On Wednesday Opa passed away. In some ways this was very unexpected as we had always been told it would be a gradual decline, not falling off a cliff and yet this was a steep cliff. On Sunday Opa had a some trouble breathing after walking up the stairs and he headed to the emergency room. He was given some oxygen and quickly felt better. The x-rays indicated pneumonia so he was admitted into the hospital. We thought he would be out by Tuesday.
On Monday we visited and joked around and Papa was in great spirits. Overnight things changed pretty quickly and he had to be sedated to keep additional breathing equipment on. From there the decline was quick. We're sorry for not updating people more through out this process but none of us expected this initially. Once we realized we were somewhat in shock and focused on getting through the final hours. His last day was peaceful and surrounded by his family. We had beers and nuts at 4pm like any other day we visited. Lots of memories were shared and we played some of his favorite music. I'm sure some people wondered why Julio Iglesias was playing in the critical care unit.
Although of course I wished this day was years in the future, there were so many blessings. It was clear he never wanted to be dependent on others. All his grand children were sleeping over the night before and in the morning they were all eating pancakes with muisjes (special dutch toppings). He even taught Kellan how to roll his up to minimize the loss of muisjes. He felt great and was happy.
Over the last couple of days we've gotten so many great messages about our Dad and what he meant to people. Of course we always thought he was a great man but I'm proud that he made a difference in so many other people's lives.
We miss you terribly Opa but I have no doubt you're entertaining crowds in the next world.
We will update the blog with information on the service as well as updates on the family so please stay tuned.
To Bonnie and the Steenhuis Family: I just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and my prayers are with you all. I am blessed to have becomes friends with Barend/Opa. The years we worked together were the most rewarding and satisfying of my career, not because of the business but because I developed a close friendship with Barend and he taught me through his words and actions what "true leadership" was all about. More importantly we laughed a lot and had fun working together! I am sad but I also know that the minute he passed that my mother welcomed him to heaven with a beer and she drank her "Manhattans" or "brown bad ones" as she called them and they told jokes and laughed. Last Friday, Phil Grande called me at 3pm and we invoked POETS in Barend's memory! God Bless all of you and know that the memory of Opa and his spirit lives on with his friends from SERAC days! LOVE Marc
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