My dad

My dad moved to Amarillo with James and I in 2008 and we moved him into the VA Nursing home. He loved it there and so did we! It really has been an uneventful seven years considering he was living in nursing home.
However Easter Sunday 2014 everything changed. That night they sent him to the ER in respiratory distress and he had to be put on a ventilator. He spent over 30 days in ICU and several weeks in rehab  before returning to the VA.

My brothers came out multiple times during that month to help out and spend time with my dad.

That episode was the beginning of the end, his health took a drastic decline after that. In the last year he fell several times and was in and out of the hospital with various issues.

Oddly enough almost a year to the date of the 2014 emergency room visit they called to say he was in the ER very sick. It turned out he had pneumonia and stayed in the hospital for a week, he never recovered or was the same. 

I spent nearly every day at the VA after that and most of the time it was because I was needed. I am so thankful for the wonderful doctors and nurses who were honest with me that he was not recovering and he was not doing well. We had a meeting and decided to move him to palliative care which is a step below hospice.

On Tuesday April 21st, the nurses called to tell me he had fallen again but he was ok. James came home around noon to sit with the baby while I headed up to check on things. The doctor was calling me as I was walking in. She sat me down to go over my dad's latest lab results and she was perfectly honest with me that my dad was dying faster than it normally happens and she wasn't sure why.

That was Tuesday. James was off the rest of that week so every morning I was blessed to take my dad a coke after I took the big kids to school. I will forever be grateful for every morning that week. 

Shortly after I left my dad on Friday morning, the doctor called and told me that after seeing my dad that morning, she knew it was time to move him into hospice care.

I was a little in shock, I had just left there and he was up talking to me?! I just had to trust in her knowledge. I called my brothers who jumped in the car and made the 9 hour drive here that day.

By the time James and I went back that afternoon, he was already moved and set up in a private room.

My brothers, James and I spent that entire weekend with my dad. Two days I will cherish forever. My dad was awake and alert and provided us with some laughs.

My brothers left Sunday afternoon and 4am Monday morning they called me to come that it wouldn't be long. Once again I was in disbelief. The above picture was taken on Saturday, this was Monday. How was this happening so fast!?

God knew that those days with our family together would be his last alert days. My dad never woke up after Sunday.

My brothers left Tuesday morning with their families to come back to Amarillo.

James and I took a break from the VA Tuesday afternoon to pick up the kids from school and get Makayla ready for her choir concert. 

My dad's favorite nurse and friend Eric was his caretaker that day and it was Eric who called to tell me that around 6pm my dad peacefully passed away.

I was really upset at first because I was about 10 minutes away from heading back up there and my brothers were just three hours away. But I know my dad went to Jesus on his terms just the way he wanted.

Mikeal A. Johnson

Obituary  Mikeal A. Johnson Jun. 4, 1947 - Apr. 28, 2015 Mikeal A. Johnson, 67, of Amarillo died on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Graveside services will be at 10:00 am, Friday, May 1, 2015 at Memory Gardens Cemetery with Chaplain Jason Hunnington officiating. Volleys for Veterans will provide Military Honors. Arrangements are by LaGrone Blackburn Shaw Coulter Road Chapel, 8310 S. Coulter. Mikeal was born on June 4, 1947 in Shreveport to Walter and Catherine Johnson. Mikeal proudly served his country serving three years in the Army during the Vietnam War. He was a lifelong resident of Shreveport until moving to Amarillo in 2008 where he lived at the Thomas E. Creek Community Living Center until his death. Mikeal was a "jack of all trades", an avid motorcyclist, gun collector and he loved building model cars. He was also a mechanic and welder. He was preceded in death by his father, Walter and his mother, Catherine and step father Leroy Hillyer. He is survived by his daughter, Allison Lis and husband James and their children, Makayla, Christopher, James Henry and David, all of Amarillo; two sons, James Johnson and his son, Chase and Jacob Johnson and Amber and their children, Dylan, Devin, Owen and Collin, all of Shreveport. The family would like to offer their sincerest thanks to the staff of the CLC for their love, care and friendship that they extended to Mikeal for the last seven years. The family will be receiving friends from 4:00 - 6:00 pm, Thursday, April 30, 2015 at LaGrone Blackburn Shaw Funeral Home, 8310 S. Coulter.

It was a beautiful time as a family, there were 14 people in our house but I loved every minute of it. I am so thankful for all the love, prayers, cards and flowers sent to our family the last few weeks. I am thankful God showed me the end of my dad's life was coming even if I only knew for a few weeks because I was able to cherish every minute I could. I am grateful for a fantastic church family who fed us for days and provided an amazing meal after the services. I am grateful my church family includes a florist and an Army Chaplain who truly honored my dad with his words.
Some days are good and some days are bad. It has been several weeks since I have had a Friday Night Dinner with my dad, something I came to enjoy over the last few years and sometimes I still accidentally drive to the VA on auto pilot. I know grief is a process but my faith is strong and I know God's plan is perfect and my dad is finally well and at peace and one day we will be together again.