Yes, that is right, life is too short and we need to take more pictures and make our memories more permanent and if you're a scrapbooker, we need to scrapbook more too. Many of you know that I have made three trips to Toronto in Apr and May. One for business and two for my dad. In April, we had the truck/store shipped to Toronto to attend both Scrapfest and Creativ Festival. I spent 12 days in Toronto with my dad and I didn't think those were going to be my last 12 days with him. I got home from the shows and then a week and a half later got a call that my dad had a massive heart attack. My sister and I flew back to Toronto and spent another 5 days there in the hospital. Before we left, we did get to see him awake, but he couldn't talk to us. I told him that he should of just asked me to stay longer if that was what he wanted instead of having a heart attack to get me back and bring my sister. I told him that I guess I didn't drive him crazy enough, he had to get me back for more. lol He just smiled and then shook his fist at me. lol. My dad still had his sense of humor even in the hospital.
I know it was really hard for him to wake up and see his 2 daughters and wife standing around him wondering what had happened and fortunately he had his heart attack in the hospital. My sister and I found it really hard to leave him especially since he couldn't talk to us. We know he wanted to tell us how much he loved us. My sister missed her first mother's day, but not once did she complain about it, she knew she would get to celebrate many more in the future.
Every day my step mom and step sister would phone or email us and give us updates on my dad and eventually they decided to do open heart surgery and fix his leaky valve. He came out of the surgery well, but the next day developed a clot in his stomach which ended up killing all the rest of his organs including his kidneys, lungs, bowels and heart. My sister, husband and I rushed back to Toronto and fortunately my dad was able to hold on until we got there. As hard as it was to see him pass, it was also good for us to be there.
While I was there, I decided to do an 8x8 album of my dad and his life. I made 34 8x8 pages and 3 12x12 pgs plus I also did the Slide show presentation for the Memorial. The fortunate thing is, I actually had too many pictures. My step mom loved to take pictures and my dad had no problem posing. Very rare when you have too many pictures to choose from. My step mom also still had my Dad's boxing shoes from when he boxed in the Pan Am games in 1971. That was so cool, and I made sure I had pictures of them. One regret I do have is I remember when Dad was taking me to the airport in April and I thought, I should get a picture of dad and me and I didn't. My lifelong lesson is that from now on, whenever I think I should take a picture, I should! No more regrets about taking pictures. Needless to say, my camera got overworked this weekend, only about 700 pictures plus had to be charged twice while I was in Toronto. Hey, I finally got to the Toronto Zoo. And if you ever get there, make sure you check out the new stingray pond, that was so awesome. Stingrays are like little puppy dogs, they love to be pet and when you put your hand in the water, they come right up to it and lift your hand up. They're also very playful and love to splash water on you. I got splashed 3 times.
Thank you to all my friends and family, you were all so supportive and sent us so many kind messages. It was so great to see how everyone was praying for us and helping us through this difficult time. I also really want to thank my friends Trisha Ladouceur and Kelly Walton. While I was gone, my store was booked to go to Lessard Hall to a charity event and both of them were able to get the truck ready to go.
Thx everyone! And like I said, life is too short and too precious, take more pictures and create more memories.
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