My Life in a Jar # 7

Tell about your Father: personality, talents,temperment, family stories about him, his role in your home etc.
Dad was always very quite around people outside of our family. With us kids he always had something funny to say about situations or had a trick up his sleeve. We never quite knew what to expect from him. The saying still waters run deep describes him to a tee. I remember one time after I was married talking to Evelyn Johnson (a life time neighbor) and we were telling her some of the tricks he would pull, she was shocked. I remember her saying, "quite Wally wouldn't do that." So the Dad we knew was quite different than the one others knew. In a lot of ways Dad was controlling. He worked long hours and was on call 24/7. Many days would go by and we wouldn't even see him. When I was younger I thought it we because they needed the money as I got older I realized it was more because he didn't think anyone could do the work as well as he could. He was a man of his word if he said he would do something, he could be depended on doing it. He was considerate of others. I remember every year growing up him having to go to work on Christmas morning. So our morning always started about 4-5:00 am. It was so he could be there to see us open our gifts before he would head off to work. As I got older and he had enough seniority to have Christmas Day off, he still went to work to give someone who had younger children the chance to spend Christmas with their children, because he had missed out on so many as we grew up. I think as we got older and started to leave home he realized he had missed out on a lot of our childhood because of work. Dad was a hard worker and hardly ever took time for himself. When Uncle Dell was killed, he would go to Clarkston after work and help them with the harvest on their farm. It was not unusual for him to work 10-12 hr. days at the dairy then go help others who may need help for another 3-4 hrs.
He loved children and children loved his gentle nature. I remember when I went home to visit the first time after Kim was born, he had told Susie (Wally's daughter) she could come over and for a quarter she could see a real live Eskimo. Susie came and gave Grandpa her quarter and asked were the Eskimo was. She decided that Grandpa had cheated. That just because Kim was born in Alaska didn't make her an Eskimo.
When Jen was a baby they came for Thanksgiving. Since Jen was not the best sleeper and Mom and Dad knew I hadn't had much sleep they informed me one morning they were going to take Kim and Jen for a drive and I was to go back to bed and get some sleep. Jen was also a mommy's girl and would cry whenever someone else took her. So I was concerned she'd cry the whole time they had her. dad informed me that it was OK, that she wouldn't cry for long, and that i was to go to bed. I slept for 4 hrs. that's the longest I had slept at one time since she was born. When they returned Jen was fast asleep and I was told she fell asleep shortly after they left. When Jen was about 6 years old we were at Mom and dad's visiting and the kids were in the back yard trying to catch some wild cats. I was talking to Dad and he was laughing. He said he remembered taking a little girl for a ride once that was wilder than those cats. I knew immediately what he was talking about. I reminded him that he had said she fell asleep shortly after they left. I then found out that she screamed until just before they returned home. The were determined they were not coming back until she was asleep. Dad said if he had told me the truth then I would have been mad at him, he's right. But since it was so many years later we both got a chuckle out of it.
I remember when Alanna got her drivers license. She was so excited that she called to tell Grandma and Grandpa. When she told Grandpa, he told her the only thing she could drive was a bike. He had totally lost track of how old she was and thought she was only 12. Alanna took advantage of teasing him about not knowing how old she was.
When Brandon was in 8th grade he took a huge growing spurt. He went from being a head shorter than Gary to being quite a bit taller in just a few months. The first time we went to UT after that Dad was so amazed when we walked in the house and he saw Brandon. That visit he actually let Brandon help him with some of the yard work, that he hadn't been able to do. I guess since Brandon was so tall, he realized he wasn't a little boy any more and could do things he needed done.
About 2 weeks before Thanksgiving Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. Because of his heart and lungs we all knew chemo was out of the question. He would tell us that he thought he would have at least 3 more good years left. That was not the case. A week after Thanksgiving Dad was going out the side door to the garage to set some salt to put on the step, because it had frozen and was very icy. Dad fell and broke his leg. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and then transferred to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. Because of his heart and lungs the Dr. knew they couldn't risk putting him under. They did a spinal and operated on his leg. We were blessed he survived that. He was put in a rehap center there in Ogden. I was able to go down and take Mom to spend a few days with him. I got a motel and ALanna, Kim, Jen, Joel, Thomas and Spring were able to be there with me. I got a couple motel rooms so we could go visit for a while then give dad a break. Little did I know this would be the last time I would see Dad alive. Dad's sense of humor showed by him letting them put a hot pink cast on his leg. For the most part he was content knowing he had to be there for his leg to heal. Close to Christmas they transferred him to a rehap center in Logan where it was easier for Mom to get there to see him. I appreciate all the times Kim would go up on her 5 day weekends and spend time with Mom and make sure she got to Logan to see Dad. I know it meant a lot to Mom. Those times also gave Wally a break and he could relax a bit as well. I remember calling Dad and talking to him several times a week. It was always a comfort when he would tell me "everything will be OK." One morning Mom called and said that Dad had fallen as he was getting out of bed. I called and talked to him. He was confused and thought he had cut his arm but wasn't sure. He just didn't sound like himself, he was tired and confused. I told him I let him get some sleep and that I'd call him later. This was on Sat., on Sunday he was taken to the hospital and his lung cancer had grown to the point that there wasn't anything they could do. Dad had been wanting to go home for several weeks, we couldn't see how that was possible since Mom wouldn't have been able to care for him. This day however, they told Mom to take him home and they would call Hospice in to help. They didn't give a time frame of how much more time he had but we knew he would soon be leaving us. I had made the decision that I would leave on Tues. to go down since the oil in Alanna's car needed to be changed first, then I would drive down with her. Monday morning about 6:00am I got the call from Karen that Dad had past away. I hadn't made it there in time. I'm grateful for the time I had with him in Dec. and for the times I talked to him on the phone. There are still times that I miss my Dad and wished I could hear him say, "everything will be OK," just one more time. It's especially hard on Father's Day. I know he is happy and healthy now. I'm so thankful for the wonderful Dad that I was blessed with.