We Did Everything We Could

I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've heard, "We did everything we could" on some sort of hospital drama or soap opera.

Here's two things about that phrase. First of all, actual doctors actually do use it. Second of all, when there's an actual doctor sitting across a table from you in a hospital waiting room, fighting back the tears as he delivers the line, referring to your father, it changes your life forever.

Wednesday night, at a little past 8 o'clock in the evening, my dad passed away. He was not only a man with incredible integrity and unwavering faith, but he also loved me unconditionally for 43 years, 6 months, 14 days, and some odd hours, and that is the loss that I am mourning.

The one thing I know for sure is that he is in a better place, surrounded by people he loves, and that he is at peace. I know this because every time someone died this is what he told me happened. I know this because every time he told me, he did so with sincerity and conviction. And mostly I know this because this is what he believed and I have always believed in my father.