On December 10th, 2002, my father passed away. This loss had a tremendous impact on me—as you probably expected after reading the first three chapters of this book. Dad had struggled with congestive heart failure for years. He underwent heart valve replacement surgery in 1992, but the aftermath left him a different man. His health steadily declined, and with it, so did his ability to do the thing he loved most: work.
Dad was a true workaholic. Once that was taken from him by this cruel disease, it was as though his spirit began to fade. Slowly, he lost his will to live.
That morning, I stopped by his house on my way to work—and what I saw, I’ll never forget. He had been prescribed several medications to help his heart valve function properly, and alcohol was absolutely off-limits. But he had reached a point where he no longer cared. He was drinking heavily. That morning, he looked so bad that he was almost unrecognizable. It was heartbreaking.
They were preparing to take him to St. Francis Hospital. I almost called Conway to take the day off and go with him, but he told me not to. He insisted I go on to work. So I did, reluctantly, and it was one of the hardest mornings I’ve ever endured—trying to focus on my route while constantly worrying about him.
Around 2 p.m., dispatch called me on the two-way radio and told me to return to the terminal. My stepmom had contacted them and said I needed to get to the hospital right away—if I wanted to say goodbye.
I was a wreck when I got there.
Even though it was against his wishes, my stepmom made the decision to keep him on life support until my sister could arrive from Florida to say her goodbyes. He passed away at 11 p.m. that night.
I took the five days of bereavement time Conway offered for his private cremation. But the truth is, I wasn’t ready to come back. I should have taken more time—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I wasn’t anywhere close to okay.
I’ll end this chapter here, but I want to circle back to something I said at the end of my Overnite segment—about how I didn’t believe I needed the Teamsters Union to protect my job. What happened next proved me wrong, and exposed just how little Conway Central Express valued its employees. The next chapter will show you exactly what I mean.
At Conway, you’re not a person—you’re just a number. And after everything I gave to that company, I regret ever being a part of it.
#MyWorldShifted #FamilyLoss #DadRemembered #GriefJourney #TruckingLife #WorkAndLoss #Memories #Heartfelt #LifeChanging #EmotionalJourney #CaringForFamily #LossOfADad #Bereavement #MovingForward #Resilience #LifeAfterLoss #FamilyMatters #TruckingStories #EmotionalStrength #PersonalJourney #NeverForget #LifeLessons #Heartbreak #FamilyLove #RememberingDad #Tribute #HealingJourney #LifeTransitions
—
My Trucker Life 