My Father's Death, 2001, by Breann Barnett

From MemoryArchive

Who: Breann Barnett
What: The Death of My Father
When: December 16, 2001
Where: Fairfield, Iowa

Losing someone close is hard, especially when it is a parent. Just the thought of losing them is scary, but it is going to happen one day, sooner or later. I will never forget the day that my dad died.

Everything happened so quickly, but I remember it like it was just yesterday. This is something that I wish didn’t happen when I was only eleven years old. Though this happened when I was young it still changed my life and put a new perspective on things. On December 16, 2001 everything took a spin and changed my life.

On this day my dad woke me up and told me to get my things and get out to the truck as soon as possible. When I asked him what we were doing he told me to call my mom and tell her to meet us at the hospital in Fairfield because he was having chest pains and his left arm was bothering him. So I did what I was told. While I was on the phone with my mom, she said, “ Breann, I know you are scared, but whatever you do stay calm and keep your father awake.” So I did and from then on there was silence until we hit Fairfield. Then the scary silence was finally broken.

When we got outside of Fairfield it was pouring down rain and wet and the roads were on the slick side. We passed my grandpa’s house, though I didn’t know it, he was about six blocks behind us. All of a sudden we got up to the square and my dad started snoring. He had fallen asleep at the wheel though I didn’t know that he was not going to wake up. I didn’t know what to do, but I grabbed the wheel and tried to get the truck stopped. So I pushed on the brakes, pulled my dad’s foot off of the gas and put the truck in park.

The next thing I know I am screaming, “Dad, wake up! Daddy you need to wake up!” Since he wouldn’t wake up, I called 911 and told them what my dad had told me to tell my mom about the pains he was having. They asked the general questions, but all I knew was that we were on the square parked in the middle of the intersection. Then my grandpa and his wife showed up. She comes to me, takes the phone and answers the questions of which I could not answer and she holds me while I am shaking from head to toe, scared and crying. My grandpa goes to the driver’s side where my dad was and stays there until the ambulance got there and took my dad away. Then he comes over to me and just holds me and tells me everything is okay and that I did all that I could.

When we get to the hospital my mom and her dad are standing there looking at me in tears. I run over to them and just start balling. The only thing that I could think about was that, “I never got to tell him that I loved him.” We wait for someone to tell us some information about what is going on. Then, finally someone walks out and takes us to a small meeting room and tells us that he did not make it and that there was nothing that they could do because it was too late. They told us that he had developed a hole in his heart and that it had started to explode.

Losing my dad was something that was horrific and I don’t want to do that again. This tragedy happened for a reason. It has changed my life and my perspective on things. It has also shown me that there is only a short amount of time to live and you only get one chance in this life so the best should be made.