“I HAD A GOOD TIME! I LOVE YOU!”
Eight small words that I miss so much!
You see, my Dad, Kenneth Edington, became a Lifeline of Ohio Donor in 2015.
These words were always what he told me after he’d visited or after we’d had a family get-together. He’d call me on his flip phone, say these two sentences and hang up!
The evening he became a donor shocked us all. He and my Mom had a great day together. He had taken her for a drive, seen us with the great grandbaby at breakfast, saw some OSU football at my brother’s house, and then we all had a spur of the moment dinner at our house with Mom, Dad, my brother, and his wife and our children.
We played cards, laughed hard, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Looking back, I remember my Dad sitting in our dining room and just looking around smiling at us all. It was if he was taking it all in!
When he and Mom got home I knew he’d call real quick, so when my phone rang I remember answering it by beating him to his saying.
I said, “I had a good time and I love you Dad”. He laughed, said it was wrong I beat him, but then said he loved me too and hung up.
Not an hour after he hung up, my Mom called very upset and said he had passed out in their bathroom and paramedics had been called.
Since my brother was still at our home, we both left together to go back to Mom and Dad’s house and actually got there before the Paramedics.
I hate reliving the rest of that night; the wait of not knowing what was happening in the ER waiting room and the coldness of a doctor who knew nothing about the love and joy of our family unit when he told us my Dad had passed.
So many hours later are a blur. I took my Mom home to just be numb with her. My brother had to care for his family through the night, my husband stayed home to care for our daughters and grandbaby, and I just cried and hugged my Mom till we were both exhausted. In the middle of the night, her phone rang…it was Lifeline of Ohio.
The person was very compassionate, patient, and yet conveyed the importance of my Dad’s gift of being a Donor. My Mom answered what questions she could and hung up not prepared at all for the days ahead and the loving notes, blanket, and gratitude of my Dad’s gift of life by donating his corneas and tissue.
After we had his Celebration of Life Memorial I decided to become an Ambassador for Lifeline of Ohio to honor my Dad’s gifts and learn more about the process, the importance and to selfishly keep my Dad’s story alive!
To most who knew him, he was a jokester, an avid golfer, outdoorsman, and hardworker!
To his family, he was a proud man who loved my Mom, me, my brother, and our spouses along with his five grandchildren and one great-grandchild that was only nine months old when he became an eye and tissue donor.
He taught us all how to laugh, be competitive, and play hard after working hard.
To over 25+ strangers he has given the gift of a new life.
My Mom and he met at the very location where Dash for Donation is held…the old Central High School.
He and my Mom had just celebrated 51 years of marriage together.
There isn’t a day that passes that he isn’t thought of or talked about.
The grief can still be debilitating on certain days, but our memories of love and laughter keep us all going to prove there is meaning to life and especially to the gifts of being a donor family.
Thank you Lifeline of Ohio for making each of my family members feel your gratitude towards my Dad’s gifts of life.
Remember to have a good time in life, and say I love you often! I’m blessed these were my last words with my Dad