• 1:00 p.m. Dad asked, “Do they like the great room?” (He had heard the family, including his sisters from Florida, eating a wonderful meal, prepared by Mom, down in their “Great Room.”)
• “That’s the first time I’ve heard them ringing.” (the bells of Heaven) 
• “Happy Birthday to You.” (Dad heard Titus enter the room. Titus turned six months old.)
• “Moriah, Moriah....”  (He knew Moriah would be there for him.) (Thanks partner!) 
• “I wonder if I should have any ice cream.” (Dad and Malchijah often enjoyed root beer floats and nicknamed them RBF’s.)
• After Cindy, his hospice nurse, explained Heaven, Dad said, “That’s comforting.”
• While his two sisters, Joyce and Sandy, were saying their goodbyes, he said, “You can have any of our beds or food.”
• “What’s the schedule for tomorrow?”
• “Dad, do you have any pain,” I would ask.  He always answered, “No.”
• “Could I have an RBF this afternoon?”
• (Often I would ask Dad what he was thinking.) Today he said, “I’m shutting down. Is everything ready to go?”
• “Come on baby, I’m trying to say goodbye. I’m going to heaven and I’m gonna miss you.” (to his dog, Misty)
• “Your Grandma needs you all more in the next days ahead.  I love her.” 
• “Thanks for making the journey.” (to Grandma)
• “We’re waiting for a boy or girl.” (to Jerrill)
• “I’m going to need my phone and charger so I can communicate.”
• 8:00 p.m. “Bring me my wallet. I need a five dollar bill to give to Malchijah for shining my shoes. I want to take care of that.”
• 11:00 p.m. “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me....” (to Ronda)

• 1:30 a.m. “There’s a plate. Come and see me, Pastor Merrill, so we can eat supper.” (to Randy and Moriah about the Apostle Matthew)
• 2:00 a.m. “I’m going to miss my bath.” (His vibrant aide, Phillip, was delayed by the ten inches of snowfall.)
• Tricia read him his Psalm and Proverb for that day. (She also made delicious meals to keep the family going.)
• 10:00 a.m. Putting on Randy’s hat, Dad said, “I want to be cool!”
• After all the snow fell, Joel, Marciah, Javonda, Malchijah, and Jaron built a snowman facing the picture window where Dad was lying. He asked, “Go into my room and in the top drawer are my gloves. I want to put them on and my coat and hat.” (He got all dressed up to build the snowman.) 
• 2:45 p.m. “I want to make sure everything is ready.” 
• 5:30 p.m. “I want to go to the cemetery–and then let’s go out to eat.”  (He and his sister Sandy had been to Carrabba’s in the past, and he was determined to go there, even asking if the menu was ready.)
• Jethniel asked him, “Do you reamember my voice?” Dad said, “How could I forget.” 
• “Dad, do you hurt anywhere?” He replied, “No. I’m going to get better.”
• 9:00 p.m. After rearranging Dad’s hat (a cold blue washcloth), Randy said, “Oh, I messed up your hair.” Dad replied, “It’s not the right color anyway!”
• 9:30 p.m. When it seemed Dad was pondering something, I would ask, “Dad, what are you thinking about.” This time he said, “I was thinking what it would be like without the family.” (Sitting close to both sides of the bed, Tricia and I sobbed. It was a precious, yet heart wrenching moment.)
• Mom said, “To be absent from the body is...,” Dad replied, “...Present with the Lord.”

Tuesday, 1-11-2011

• 1:00 a.m. While Moriah and Javonda were watching their Grandpa through the night, his bed suddenly began to rise, sitting Dad straight up. This startled Moriah and Javonda. Finding he had pressed the control with his feet brought a good laugh.
• 2:00 a.m. Grandpa took off his gown, saying that he had to return it to the church.
• 9:00 a.m. “I’m thinking of getting 100% well.”
• Mom asked what advice Dad would give Jared who was on the phone. Dad said, “Be faithful.”
• 1:00 p.m. “Titus is here, Dad!”  He said, “He’s my baby!”
• “Dad, I have surmised that you like the day better than the night.” He quickly said, “You bet!”
• 2:14 p.m. Dad watched his hospice nurse in her blue coat come up the snowy walkway. As Cindy entered, he asked her, “Would it be better to have our picnic outside tomorrow night?”
• Randy asked, “Can I read you the Bible?” Dad replied, “I love it!”
• Javonda said, “I love you, Grandpa.” He replied, “I’ll love you forever and ever.”
• “I’m in Heaven with Jesus, with my family.”

Before recording any of the above, I wrote in my Bible what Dad said to me twice on Friday, January 7, 2011. “There will never be a man that has a daughter better than you.” I find myself falling far short of that statement for I am just a sinner saved by grace. But in these last eleven days of caring for my Father, I have gained a vast amount of wisdom from his final days on earth.  He never once complained as he lay in that hospice bed, always tried to cheer his visitors, and loved his family desperately.  He and I often said, “We need each other!” Upon reading the entire book of Philippians to him six times, verse 21 of chapter 3 stuck out. “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”

Ron Merrill entered Glory on his 75th birthday, January 16, 2011 in Greenville, South Carolina at 5:40 p.m., while the whole family was singing around his bedside. The last instructions by the hospice nurse Diane, which I wrote in my notebook, were “Turn him at 8:00 p.m.” He did turn, right into Heaven and now all is 100% well!

I love you, Dad,

RONda Wyler