The Day My Life Changed.....

 Feb. 26th, 1987

26 years ago , my life changed forever on that day......

Life , as I knew it, would NEVER be the same.....

Below is what I posted last year about this day.....

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On Feb. 26th, 1987, My Dad passed away suddenly of a massive heart attack.

He was 67 years old. I was 29 years old.

My Dad, was a Master Sargent in the Army during WWII

He woke up that morning to see my Mom off to work. Dad was retired. He waved Good Bye from the Living Room picture window to her as she pulled out of their drive way. Shortly afterward, my sister would call him and there would be no answer. She would call me, who just got home from work, to tell me there was no answer.
Both of us knew what she would find as she would be the first one to reach my parent's home as she lived closer.While waiting anxiously for her call back, I would then call my husband at work telling him to be on stand by to leave and come and get me ( we only had one car at that time) because I knew my sister would find that my Father had passed away.
She found him laying on his back on the bed as if he had just sat down and fell backwards.

Dad, Me and Mom

I remember that day as if it was yesterday. Joe and I were the ones who went to where my Mom worked to tell her that the Love of Her Life was gone. When she saw us in the office of the Dress Factory where she worked, she knew....
She was never the same......
My life changed forever that day. My HERO and my ROCK was gone.
3 months later my Mom would sell the home in which I lived in since the age of 4. The home that my Dad built. Every tradition that we had was gone , along with my Dad.
We all would go on , including my Mom. 18 years later, she left us to return to his side, where she belonged. They both would have been 92 years old this year.

The last picture taken of my Dad shortly before he passed away...

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. I still hear his voice and words of encouragement and he is forever in my heart.
I am proud to say that I am a Carpenter's daughter. I only wish he could have passed on his vast knowledge to my sons who were only 3 and 5 years old at the time. How ever, that was not meant to be........

Frank Kolojejchick
1919 - 1987

If you would like to read my first tribute to my Dad that I did on this Blog, please click HERE

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Now it is 26 year later........

I lived with regret for several years after my Dad passed away.

I was doing Private Duty that morning and had the thought that I should go and have a cup of coffee with Dad as I was not far away from my parent's home.

But I decided against it to go home.

For years, I thought that maybe if I would have gone to my parent's home that morning, I could have saved him.........

Or at least, maybe I would have got to say Good Bye and tell him just how much I loved and adored him....

It took me a long time to realize that "What is Meant to Be , is Meant To Be"  and "Everything Happens for a Reason".

That day happened exactly as it was supposed to happen......

It was God's plan and I have learned to except that.....

As I said in last year's post, not a day goes by that I don't think of my Dad.

He was the first Love of My Life......

And I still miss him.....

He taught me many things but most important of all was "To Never Let Anyone Use You as a Door Mat" .

You may not all pick it up from my Blog but in my life, I speak my mind , I fight for what is right and for my beliefs and someone may take advantage of me once but they don't get a second chance to do it again.

I have passed these ideals on to my sons......

If your Dad is still living, please give him a hug today and tell him how much you love him.

In a fleeting moment, he could be gone so say what you need to say to him now.....

Before you can no longer do that....

And give him a kiss on the cheek and remember me and my Dad.....

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Hugs,
Debbie