Saying goodbye to daddy

On January 29,2018 Daddy took his last breath.
Before dad death 6 months ago, he changed so much, at first he would hallucinate and unknown to us at first he was acting out his dreams too, wandering non stop for hours and hours, (like sleep walking) Lewy body dementia is the form that daddy had, we did not know at first nor did the doctors, as in most dementias at first they are all similar, some just sleep a lot or chatter talk, some forget everything, but not our daddy, he started out not knowing what to expect, but felt he was given a death sentence. it was slow at first, he would forget things, he chose to give up driving when he got lost in his home town and couldn't find his way back home (thank goodness mom was with him), forgetting to eat, forgetting to wear shoes, forgetting to take meds without mom reminding him. He started sleeping less and less, up all hours of the night,  we could see it taking its toll on mom, she was worrying and cranky, he watched less and less TV (which use to be his favorite pass time)
He quit studying the Bible, cause reading was to difficult.
We knew it was time to make strong suggestions to our parents about moving from the farm to the city closer to us kids, so we could help as needed, that was a whole different process, dad was ready to move cause he knew he was getting worse, but mom wanted to stay longer, but gradually have made many trips to the farm us kids finally convinced her that it was time, We understood it was difficult giving up her dream retirement home, and going to a smaller one level duplex, but it would be closer to many doctors and hospitals, and closer to us kids so we could check on them, that all happened just in time, within about a three month period of living in the city, and many doctor appointments for them both, something  snapped within dad he wandered off one Sunday morning while waiting on mom to finish getting ready, thank goodness one Sibling was coming by to pick them up for church services, and was flagged down by a neighbor that dad was off in the wooded area, she ran out to get him and he was completely out of it, she could barely hold him up and walk, she immediately called me once she got him in the house and settled and gave him a drink.
When I got there mom was upset thinking we were upset with her, and we decided to take him to hospital, and that was the beginning of dads last 5 months with us, 11 hospitals and nursing homes, including geriatric psych stays, he grew weaker, and something about him would change, he was slowly losing his beautiful personality although we did get glimpses of it from time to time but he was slipping away, his beautiful smile was less often, he talked less, (which was very unlike daddy he never met a stranger) even though he was mostly hallucinating and wandering, he still was concerned for others, and the love of his life our mom, he always seem to perk up some when she came to visit, a few of there last times together, he wouldn't talk much, but he would just hold her hand as he drifted off to sleep.
dads swelling in his legs and feet and hands had gotten so bad towards the end of his time, and part of it I blame on the inattentive nursing home workers, he never got anything to drink except meal time, basically he didn't know if he was hungry or thirsty, he could not easily swallow anymore, unless it was finely pureed he had to drink thick fluids because he could choke.
Then January 29th approximately 12:30pm I received a call from hospice that he was gone, he was not alone, hospice was sitting with him but he did not want to be revived and we honored that, cause we knew his quality of life was not what he wanted.
I had to break the news to my little brother who works at the same place of employment I do, we took a few moments to cry and hug and we told our boss' they told us to go be with our family. but first we needed to call our siblings and find mom.
We all met at moms place and hugged and cried, but we knew we needed to make some firm plans, we had not yet decided where we wanted to have dad cremated, we had discussed it the weekend before  thinking we had several more months or so,
Thankfully one of my dear brother in laws, and one of my sisters went to the nursing home to say goodbye to daddy and hospice helped them make the choice of where to take dad, cause they can only hold him 6 hours at the nursing home. I know that must have been very difficult for them to do, but I am thankful for them as they chose to do it.
dads service was church like , thankful for my family's strong connection to so many wonderful people that brought food, took care of dinners, and providing the church, and my many talented family members, who made slide show of memories, and large pictures for dads memorial, and for all of the beautiful flowers and plants.
So grateful for my talented Son and daughter in law singing one of dads favorite songs for his memorial, for the congregational singing, and my brother in law and nephews for being able to speak at dads memorial. it was a beautiful service, the urn we had picked out for daddy was wooden with a etched scene of the mountains, and a man riding a motorcycle into those mountains (which fit dads hobbies to a T)
We love you daddy and we will miss you so much. We will take care of mom for you.
Thank you everyone for letting me share this with you.