This song was written in August 2014 when my father became very ill.  He was someone that did not have faith in doctors, so stayed away from them, and I must say it is probably what helped him to live longer in the long run.

With not knowing what was going on with my father’s health and knowing whatever was going on really was serious, I was sitting and wondering one day, how will I get through this when he goes?    How will he say good-bye?  My sister and I spent time daily checking on him, and making sure he had his meals and was eating, but dad’s breathing was labored and he was weak.  I would ask dad if I could take him to the doctor being it was obvious that something very serious was wrong with his health, but he would just say, “Not yet, there’s nothing they can do.”

One August morning I woke up and these song lyrics were coming to me, so I got up and wrote them down.  I read them over and over again, and thought I need to do something with this, I need to get this recorded, so that if something should happen to dad, I would have something to play at any service we may have for him.  Even though I knew my father loved me by his actions, I never heard him say the words.    I was looking through an American Songwriter magazine and it fell next to me and there was this ad from Aerugo Productions, so I quickly emailed and asked how quickly he could get this song recorded and back to me, that my father was very ill and I needed it  ASAP.  William the owner of Aerugo Productions wrote me back and said, he would talk to his other clients to see if they would let me go ahead of them to get this song finished in time.  The song was recorded and emailed back to me in 21 days.

Dad remained very sick for a couple of months, but by the Grace of God, dad was granted a little more time.  Not saying he didn’t have several bouts of whatever was going on with his health, he did.  When writing the song “How will He Tell Her” I always knew in dad’s eyes no matter how old I got, I would always be his little girl.  While writing the song, the tears began to fall.  Some how I knew the day would come and there would be no more tomorrows for dad.  Then on February 23, 2016 my father got so weak and sick, we could no longer abide by his pleas to not seek help.  I stood next to him pleading and asking him to let us take him to the hospital, and he just said, “No, not yet.”  I explained to him that we could get in trouble for elder abuse if he didn’t go, he still asked, “Wait a  little longer.”  After several family members talked with dad, he knew he was out numbered and finally said he would go.  We got him into the car and when we arrived at the hospital, it was the beginning, of the very near end.

Dad was transferred to the City to where there were specialist  to care for him.  He had surgeries, test after test, infections, breathing treatments, blood transfusions, and all that was keeping him alive was a TPN drip in his IV, but through all this he laid there in that hospital bed, able to talk, to smile and not once did he talk about dying,  he tried and fought so hard through it all, to keep on going.

Finally after 5 weeks in the hospital,  dad was transferred to the Hospice Home, where he spent his final 4 days.  So how did “We” say good-bye?  Our last words went like this.  I arrived to see dad on Thursday morning, when I walked in his room I said, “Hi dad.”  Dad opened his eyes and smiled and reached his hand out to me, so I held his hand.   He then said, “Your hand is cold.” And I said, “Your hand is so warm”.  As his hand was so warm to the touch.  Then l said, “You know what they say dad, cold hands warm heart.”  Dad opened his eyes one last time and smiled and said, “That’s right.”  Those were our final words, he died 2 days later on April 2, 2016……

We never know when our last words will be spoken to those we love, or how we will say good-bye, but it’s what we hold in our hearts and the memories we make, that truly matters…

With Love,  Sheri Lynn