Last Words

I had been home from work for about fifteen or twenty minutes when my older

son David came in from playing -- looking very serious. He was only six-year

s-old at the time. Our younger son Mark, who is two and a half years younger

, was right behind him.

I was watching the evening news on television when David came in and stood r

ight in front of me. I have to admit that my thoughts were rambling between

the news and David. I knew he had something on his mind and he knew he could

talk to me about anything. He also thought I had the answers to everything.



As he stood there, I could sense that he was nervous and wondered if there w

as something wrong, or if he was just going to ask one of his very serious q

uestions about the rules of the game they were playing. But he was much too

serious for that. Now he had my full attention.

He spoke rather quietly when he said, "Daddy, I need to talk to you." To tha

t I said, "Okay Davie, what's on your mind?"

He answered with, "I'm a big boy now, right?" And I answered, "You sure are.

Tell me what you're thinking."

He said, "I don't want you to call me Davie anymore, I want you to call me D

ave, and I don't want to call you Daddy, I want to call you dad."

With this out he seemed even more serious or nervous. I smiled at him with t

he proudest smile I think I ever had.

I said, "That will be okay, Dave. I would like to call you Dave or David and

look forward to you calling me Dad. But, don't ever call me father, okay?"

He relaxed and said in a very strong voice, "Can I go back out and play now,

Dad?" As I said yes, my younger son came over close to me and said, "I stil

l want to call you Daddy."

I said, "I'm so glad you do!"

For the next few days every time David had anything to say to me, he would b

egin it with Dad. Even if he wanted to know what we were having for supper,

he would ask, "Dad, what are we having for dinner?"

It didn't take Mark long to follow suit. I could barely keep the smile off m

y face! My wife would turn her head to smile.

My son David died July 1, 1993. The night before he died, he and I were talk

ing on the telephone about how he was feeling. About six weeks before he had

testicular cancer and had surgery for removal of the cancer. Then they did

exploratory surgery to verify that his lymph system was clear of cancer. It

was, thank God.

In this telephone conversation, David told me that he was experiencing blurr

ed vision, and numbness in his fingers, as well as slurred speech. I told hi

m that he would be all right. He had just gone back to his work too soon aft

er the surgery. He agreed and said he would slow down a bit. We both laughed

because we both knew he wouldn't slow down.

I said, "I love you Davie." To which he responded with loving laughter, "I l

ove you too, Daddy."

I laughed and said, "Goodnight Davie."

"Goodnight Daddy." He said and we both hung up our telephones. These were th

e last words we ever spoke to each other!

The next day at about noon, I was called to be notified that David had been

taken by ambulance to the local hospital. His wife was with him during the t

rip. When I got to the hospital he was in a coma. As the afternoon wore on,

we were informed by the doctor that he had a ruptured aneurysm in his brain.

He lived until 7:06 p.m.

As I prayed for his life, many things went through my mind. The thought of o

ur last words were there, "I love you Davie."

"I love you too, Daddy."

I will forever be grateful to God for these last words. We had no fences to

mend. We were in a good relationship. I know him to be a Christian and asked

God to welcome him home! My heart was broken and still is. I still have my

son, Mark. I try to give Mark all the love that I once gave to both my sons.

He accepts my love and tolerates my protective nurturing. By Bud Tenney
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