Wednesday, May 18, 2011

First day.

Mum's pic

I knew as soon as I opened my eyes this morning that today was a special day. I went through the motions of breakfasts, lunch boxes, hair plaiting, Melbourne clothes, but my head was somewhere else. Today was the first day of the rest of my Dad's life. This journey to Melbourne would be very different to my last.

We took a train to the city, Mum picked us up, we had coffee and beans on toast in Fitzroy with Emily and then waited.

Then it was time to pick Dad up from the hospital. It was scary and exciting. How amazing that only nine days ago he had had his heart opened up and re-plumbed and here we were about to take him home with us. How amazing that the constant fear of the disease that had killed his father, would no longer be a part of his life.

I walked into the hospital just as he was checking out. I saw him from behind and I recognised his clothes but not his shape. His pants and shirt didn't seem to fit him anymore. I remember being so careful not to hurt him when I hugged him.

The guy at the desk was asking him if he wanted him to cut off his wrist band and my Dad looked at me and said This is when I stop being a patient and start to be a person again. It felt huge walking out of that hospital with him. Carrying his bag as he navigated his first stairs, the footpath and then the car.

We brought him home. He was cold and my Mum wrapped him up in a rug. He looked skinny but he had colour in his cheeks and he was hungry. He was home. He was ours. Her husband, my Dad, her Ra.

My Mum made him lunch and me and Indi went walking.

She is obsessed with graff(iti) my girl is. Most of my next hour was spent down city alleys, looking at her back as she ooed and aahed and that's so cooled and snapped pics.

We bought coffee and sushi for the train and went back to the flat. Dad was asleep and Mum drove us to the station.

As we sat on the train about to leave he called. He was crying. He was so moved that we had come all the way to Melbourne to be with him and to celebrate his second chance at life and yet he hadn't said goodbye. I offered to get off the train but then reminded him of how much time we have ahead of us, especially when they move across the road.

All the way home I thought about the link between the physical and emotional heart. How deeply connected they are. If not the same.

So that's it. We're home. My own heart feels full and happy and relieved. Grateful doesn't seem like a big enough word this time.

Thank you so much for joining us on this journey. I'm hoping the rest of the story is really boring, textbook recovery stuff. Red wine, eggs, lots of walking, avocados, beans and so much love.

I hope you've had a great day too. xx

86 comments:

  1. OH KATE!!!!!
    YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! so glad you had a special and wonderful day xoxo

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  2. Oh Kate, I am so happy for you guys. My eyes are actually welling up with tears. I know exactly how you feel right now. The relief and the happiness.

    I don't even know you but I am so so happy for you and your family that recovery is going so well.

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  3. So glad that all has gone well for your Dad. If only there were more crochet granny square rugs (and all the love that has gone into making them) in hospitals I'm sure all the patients would recover faster. Melx.

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  4. That's just the best news Kate I'm so happy to hear your Dad is home and recovering well. I'm so glad you had a great day. xo

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  5. It is such a relief to have them home after a hospital stay like that.
    My middle dear...has had 4 open heart surgeries and it seems like so long ago now...it doesn't mean that I don't worry...I just don't think about it every waking minute anymore...You will find Kate that the worry will easy in time. Until it will be just a distant memory...All the good memories to come will just melt the scary ones away...
    You must be so excited about them moving closer to you...

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  6. What great news! I am so glad to hear your dad is home.

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  7. Soooo happy for you guys!
    What a day - and what a gorgeous photo of your Dad! much love to you.xxx

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  8. Nothing to say but MMMMMM sigh...so pleased for you and yours.

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  9. Thank you for sharing such precious private moments from your life... good luck for your dad's recovery, he might be a tad skinny, but he's got a good grin going on!

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  10. What fabulous news! I'm happy for you and your family.

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  11. Wow! What a fabulous and precious moment - and how amazing it is to really see the true meaning of that moment :-)
    xxxCate

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  12. Well thats brought a tear to my eye!
    Enjoy the rest of all your lives.

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  13. What a great post, it's always so good to hear things like this. I wish your dad and in consequence all of you the brightest and healthiest of futures.

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  14. Such wonderful news and such a beautiful post. So happy for all of you :) Kx

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  15. So glad he is home, now you can all enjoy all the good times to come.
    Sending love to you all. x

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  16. I have tears in my eyes as I write this Kate. I am so relieved for you and incredibly happy for you and your family... especially your dear Dad. My, he looks like a sweetheart in that pic.
    Hope you can breathe a little easier tonight and from now on :o)

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  17. YAY!
    Deep breath out its a brand new day :)

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  18. Wonderful news Kate. I have been following along and I am so happy for you all.

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  19. Kate, that's just beautiful. What a beautiful relationship you have with your Dad - special.
    And how funky is your girl photographing the "graff"!

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  20. Beautiful post, I had my heart in my throat reading this, just gorgeous.
    Enjoy your dad and the amazing bond you have with him, so special.

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  21. So happy. Good to see him with a homemade blanket too. Cherrie

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  22. Not much I can say except know that I am smiling a really big smile for you all :)

    PS Gee, you look like your dad!

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  23. I am happy for his dad and for you!!! That so beautiful day you have had!

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  24. That was such a touching post!!!I know the relief you are feeling!!We just bought home my Mum after two major surgeries last month. It was such a happy moment for all of us.

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  25. Your words really made me cry. So happy it all went well!!
    much love
    yaga

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  26. Dear Kate,

    I just want to say I've been an avid reader of your blog for quite some time now and it never fails to inspire and put a smile on my face. Your dedication and passion for crafting,your wonderful family and really just your optimistic and spirited voice, it really opens my eyes and makes me think the world is such a lovely place even on days when trivial things get me down. You live a charmed life, one that I aspire to achieve one day(I'm still in uni and therefore feel I have not lived much yet)!

    And I am so glad to hear your father is well, it is such wonderful news!

    Keep taking wonderful pictures of your wonderful girls, keep sharing your beautiful creations and keep inspring us!

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  27. Oh Kate- as someone who is about to be in the same place as your dad (home and loved and looked after) your post made me cry. I have been so blessed with love and care and have so much more of it ahead of me and it really is overwhelming. I know exactly what your dad means.

    Bless you all, each and every one of you who cares for someone else. xx

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  28. And may the rest of his life be long, happy and healthy Kate.

    What a journey it's been, so glad you've all come through it. I can only imagine the relief you all feel,

    A lovely photo of your dad too..........

    Claire X

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  29. Aw what a lovely story! So glad your Dad is back at home and doing better!

    xxx

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  30. Beautiful. Bless you and him and all your family. :)

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  31. So glad to hear your Dad is now home.
    xx

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  32. That's a great post! You are a talented writer, and I see from their blogs that your mum and Dad are too..
    Nice to know your Dad is on the mend.
    Phew!

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  33. I'm so glad your Dad is home and may he continue to recover well and get strong again. How can he not when wrapped in such a gorgeous crochet blanket?! :)
    Take care and thinking of you all,
    Anne xx

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  34. too teary to comment!
    so glad all went well and that he's on the way to recovery.
    I used to pray, when I was a kid, that mum and dad would stay alive at least until I was married. I figured it would be okay then....but now I realise it's never easy to lose a parent, a mentor and perhaps your biggest advocate. It's made me realise that you need to make the most of each moment :)
    l
    x

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  35. it would appear saying the right words at the right time are a family trait. Welcome home Farm Doc! xx

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  36. I'm so glad everything went well for your Dad Kate.

    I see a budding artist too.

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  37. Home where he belongs :)
    xx

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  38. Such a special story you have shared, thankyou... he is such a lucky man to be surrounded by so much love! xxx

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  39. Happy all went well. Blessings to you and your family.

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  40. Big happy tears for you and your family. x

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  41. Oh Kate, that is wonderful news!
    I hope he moves steadily now, from strength to strength.
    Oh, my heart is with you..I have been on this journey with my father many years ago. xx

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  42. Thrilled for you, Kate, but crying all the same. Gorgeous post, gorgeous Dad...

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  43. So glad that dad is home where he should be :)

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  44. great news kate! he looks like such a sweetheart xx

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  45. That made me cry! - the link between the physical and emotional heart - beautiful! Thanks.....x

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  46. oh Kate, you've got your dad back. Where he should be. That's really good news

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  47. yay, such a happy ending! so relieved for you all especially for your dad's new life!
    hugs ♥

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  48. Oh yay!!!!!! I love the photo of your dad, all rugged up in his grannie! I'm glad everything worked out well for your family.

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  49. What a wonderful welcome home your Dad had. I am not surprised he was moved. You are an amazing daughter. He looks wonderfully happy. Make sure he eats lots of raw mushrooms if he can. They are full of Vitamin B6. Anaesthetic strips the body of its stores of B6 which can lead to depression if they are not replaced. Big hugs. x

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  50. What a relief. Glad it went so well.

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  51. That's quite the twinkle in your dad's eye.

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  52. Happy day Kate! Good to know that your much loved dad is back home where he should be. How sweet that he called you on the train too, it made me teary.

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  53. Mmmmmmmmmmwah!! Poor bugger looks like he needs a good feed. Fatt'in him up for winter I say!!

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  54. I hope so too Kate and many many years of over-the-road sharing !

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  55. Here's to all 'round Boring Ordinary. I have a large smile on my dial.

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  56. I remember dropping off and picking up my father from hospital when he had his open heart surgery. I had just been away on a trip with the Navy (submarines) for six months and managed to fly back to Melbourne in time for his operation.

    That was in 2000 and my father is healthier than ever and my parents are moving into their house in Daylesford in June. They are so excited and so are we. Thankyou for reminding me of a time when you realise just how luck you are to have your parents around.

    Cheers
    Keir

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  57. A most excellent story of your journey - hoping the rest is wonderfully boring! Thanks so much for sharing with us. xx

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  58. First time I have commented here Kate,but I just had to...I experienced a similar experience with my Dad..your beautiful words have touched me so.
    Wishing your Dad,Mum,you and your family everything wonderful!
    Jude.

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  59. I am so happy reading this post that I cried (my hubbie thinks I have lost the plot but I dont care!!) Welcome home Kates Dad .... we wish you the very best recovery xx

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  60. So glad to hear that your dad has left hospital and is starting the next leg of the journey. It must be exciting to know they are moving just next door to you all soon :-)

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  61. A truly beautiful post Kate. Each time I've read your Dad Post's I have been so struck by the love that pulses out through your words, I can feel it, and almost see it. I'm so glad you are all through the worst bit, I'm sure the next part will have it's challenges but families stick together don't they? And somehow that makes everything alright. Catch you soon beautiful x

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  62. yay, home again! and then so much time and everydayness with them living across the road, how lovely.

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  63. This put tears in my eyes. My dad is ill too, and far away in Australia. He is so, so thin, but strong and resilient. He is not though, able to let us too close to him. Things are the way they are, but I love him and worry about him.

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  64. Great news Kate, I have been following your journey and this is the best close to such a difficult and scary time. We were told that people do their best recovering after major surgery at home with their family close.
    xxxx

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  65. He might be fragile for a while but he's got a spark in his eye that could light a hundred candles. There's lots of life in there yet to be lived. Welcome home dad! Kate, I have no doubt that the love your mother, sisters and you surrounded him with helped. Love does that, it gives us something real to hang on to.

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  66. So lovely to hear that he's home again and ready to embrace the rest of his life after surgery. I can't wait to read about your family adventures with him and your mum living across the road!

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  67. I'm so happy for you all Kate, but your post make me all weepy. I lost my own dear dad when I was only 21 and he, only 47, to a massive heart attack. Even now, 35 years later, the pain of loss is still strong.

    You're so lucky to have your dad and the girls their grand-dad, I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

    Jak x

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  68. Oh, Kate, you know I *get* what you're feeling. Sending you a huge Hobart hug tonight. J x

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  69. Thankyou for allowing us on this very personal family event withus. We are about to go on a road ourselves - an unknown one and I am waiting to find out more at the moment:( It is times like this that you hold your family close and I am so lucky that I am in the same city as him at the moment (humm - not for long though - M.E D.O.E.S N.O.T W.A.N.T T.O M.O.V.E A.W.A.Y F.R.O.M H.I.M.

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  70. You touch my heart with your dads journey. As you say, it is the first day of the rest of his life.
    xxx

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  71. This post is lovely, and made me burst into tears. I lost my Dad in December to cancer of the pancreas. To hear a positive story, to hear of a father's hospital journey with a happy ending - its just makes me sad and joyful all at once. Life goes on, and we love regardless of the canyons we cross. Thanks for writing.

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  72. You beautiful lady.
    Very moved by this post.
    xoxo

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  73. what an amazing post, so moving...

    enjoy the second life together!

    love, Maaike

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Kate XX

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