RIP, my precious Don.

Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 8:51 p.m. Don Shnell passed from this life on earth to go home to our heavenly Father and a host of family and friends who preceded him in death. I could list lots of folks he'll be so happy to see and who will be so happy to see him, but the one that comes to mind so quickly is David Rule. This picture was made on the day that Don served as a pallbearer at David's funeral on September 3rd, less than 2 weeks ago. He was suffering with what we thought was a crick in his neck and a bladder infection. The bladder infection was a fact, but the crick in his neck was really some angina which eventually became a heart attack on Monday morning of this week. Then Monday night he had a stroke. Our family and many friends gathered to help us through these days that seemed so long.

We had many hours of wonderful visiting, lots of sobbing and crying, and some wonderful moments of hilarity. I have slept a total of 3 hours of sleep since I got up Monday morning. Tonight after Don's death, the hospital chaplain came by and visited with us. Then we visited in the room until they came to get his body. We were exhausted, but it was a wonderful time of visiting with all the kids. It was horrible when he really stopped breathing, but it was so quiet compared to all the noise he had made as he struggled to breath. He had an instant face lift. I'm not kidding; there was not a wrinkle on his face or forehead. He looked so relaxed. I am thrilled for him to have made this graduation into the rest of eternity. How I will live without him is a mystery, but I trust God to lead me and to provide.

Tomorrow we are having a family memorial service at our son, David's home in Norman. Lots of us are staying at their house tonight. More family will come tomorrow. I haven't determined the details of our public celebration of Don's life. I will do that tomorrow. Our kids had to fly in to see Don and can't stay for the public service It's too costly to go home and return for it, so this family service tomorrow will be special.

Thank you all for your prayers. God is good and I trust Him to put me back together without the biggest piece of my life. This will certainly be a job that only God can handle. I thank Him for the years we've had and the many joys those years brought. Without Don to proofread the blogs, you'll be seeing more errors. I use the spell checker, but he still caught a lot I'd missed. RIP, Sweetheart.