Gone With a Wink

Last Wednesday, I saw Frank. He wasn't feeling real well, but at 96, I think that's to be expected sometimes. We had a good visit and once again I left shaking my head at how sharp he was! Thursday the call came that he had been taken to the hospital. I went to the hospital to see him on my way to a wedding shower on Saturday. He wasn't in his room, had gone for xrays, so I waited for him to get back to the room. He didn't want me to leave, but it was pretty rough watching them move him back into his bed. He was in a lot of pain. We got him all settled and he asked why I was so dressed up. I told him I was going to a wedding shower. He told me I should have showered BEFORE I came to see him! His lunch arrived and he was ready to dive in, so I told him I'd go and let him eat. I told him goodbye and he winked at me when I left. He'd never done that before, that I could remember. I didn't know it then, but it WAS goodbye. Yesterday morning I got the call the he was not responsive and wasn't expected to make it through the day. He had asked for scrambled eggs, but before they got there he was not responding. I didn't have a car, so Cary came right home so I could get to the hospital. It just wasn't my friend there, but I said my goodbyes. He died about two hours later. He lived the majority of his 96 years simply for yesterday. He was living only to die and start really living! Recently when I saw him, he told me that every morning before he got out of bed he put his Bible in the floor. It would stay there until he did his Bible study, serving as a reminder of what needed to be done each time he looked at the floor. He told me about a day a few days before when he had not been feeling well. He got into bed that night and realized his Bible was in the floor. He got up, did his study, put the Bible on the nightstand so he could put it in the floor the next morning! I KNOW where he is, but I have lost a precious friend. When I started visiting Frank, I thought I was doing him a favor. I soon realized that wasn't the way it was at all. He was MY friend, always asking about me and my family, I looked forward to my time with him because HE blessed ME. I'm sad today because my friend is gone, I guess when you're 96 you have plenty of time to be a good friend. Last night I did a search on my blog for "Frank" just to see what all came up. I've written about him alot, but not near every time I've seen him. I loved the story about him getting me the bird feeder...he was so disgusted with Cary for not getting me one! So, he just took care of it himself, and I spend everyday watching that bird feeder! There was even a blue jay on it this morning! When I saw him last week he told me he had called and left me a message, but I never called back. I never got a message, but he had called to tell me to come get his feeder at the nursing home, he just couldn't take care of it anymore. When I didn't call him back, he gave it to someone else. He would put the bucket of feed in his lap and ride his motorized wheel chair out to the feeder. I'm so thankful he was so sharp right up until the end, he gave so much and asked for so little. He always made me smile, laugh, and want to be just like him when I grow up! He was a true friend.