By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
It started when Bill heard a noise that sounded like someone falling. He walked to the front of his house and saw his wife on the floor by the stairs.
He bent down to determine her injuries, and it appeared she was not breathing normally. Realizing it would take 12 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, he felt he could take her in his own car in less time.
So he carried her to his car and put her in the back seat (fortunately, she was a petite 78-year-old). He then, ignoring the speed limit, sped off to the emergency room at the local hospital.
While driving there, he heard a police siren. There was no way he was going to stop, so he sped up and, after about 12 minutes, arrived at the emergency room.
When he got out of the car, the policeman, realizing why he was driving so fast, said, “I will carry her in. Just go in to alert the emergency room staff of her presence.”
She was laid on a gurney and wheeled in, where she was examined by the emergency room doctor. After about 20 minutes, the doctor came out to the waiting room, explaining she had a heart attack and there was nothing they could do now to help her. The emergency room nurse added, “At least she did not suffer.”
Bill then sat in a chair near her and looked at her for the longest time. He said nothing but teared up and mumbled something to himself.
The nurse interrupted him and said she would have to remove her and put her in the morgue, waiting for the funeral parlor’s orders. She then asked Bill her name.
“Susan, Sue,” Bill answered. Bill then walked out to his car, and the policeman, who was there with Bill the entire time, noted that Bill was dazed and did not seem to be very alert.
He told Bill, “I am not going to let you drive home. You will get a ticket for sure if you try. I will drive you to your home and have a backup officer drive your car to your house.”
When Bill arrived home, the neighbor, realizing what had happened, came over to Bill’s house to console him. He noticed that most of the time he was there, Bill was dazed and just sat looking up at the wall.
Bill did call his son, who was working for a large corporation. When he reached the main office, he asked to speak to Jason Lutzer. The operator responded that he was in a meeting and was not to have any calls transferred to him.
“Tell him his mother died today, and the funeral will be a week from next Monday.” “Oh, I am sorry to hear that. I will interrupt the meeting and ask him to answer the phone.”
The first thing Bill said to his son was, “Your mother had a heart attack and passed away several hours ago. The funeral will be a week from Monday at the church we used to attend.”
“Dad, we have had much labor unrest at the company now, mainly the workers want a big increase in pay, and now is a terrible time to travel all the way to Pennsylvania.
I was just appointed vice president, and dealing with this issue is my first big task. Can’t the funeral be postponed?” “No. Your mother died, and this is not a birthday party that can wait.”
“I realize that, but I have been working 14 hours a day to reach vice president level at the company, and it’s critical that I deal with this crisis now.”
“Yes, son, you have worked very hard to achieve what you have. I worked hard too, and was made head custodian at the school. So, I understand.” “Dad. I will be able to fly there on the 28th. It’s a long flight from Silicon Valley to Pennsylvania.”
“I understand,” Bill said. “You have gone far beyond me career-wise, and I am super proud of you.” Bill then called his daughter, a nurse who was then dealing with a very sick child.
“I want to come, but my patient will be having surgery to remove another part of the cancerous tumor in her brain, and as her main nurse I will have focus on her. Nurse and patient become very attached.
I am also in line for the charge nurse position, so I must maintain my excellent record. Also, I cannot take any more time off this month and must work to pay the medical bills we have now from Chrissey’s accident.”
“I understand. Your career has to come first in your life now.”
The funeral was held in the church where Bill and his wife used to attend until they had a disagreement with the elders. Three days later Bill likely committed suicide.
He ran out in the main street a block from his humble three-bedroom house in front of a car, and was killed instantly.
For Bill’s two children, realizing they had lost both of their parents a few weeks ago, the reality hit them. With their spouses and their six children, they decided to come to the funeral of their father.
They admitted, “We were just too busy and lived too far away to be part of our parents’ lives. They spent untold hours chauffeuring us to the sports activities we were involved in; they worked overtime to send us to college.
They were wonderful parents, better than we are now. The grandkids will never get to know their grandparents. Our careers were just too important.”
They added, “We met our spouses at college and moved away to where our careers took us. Our parents were always there for us. Our kids will never get to be with their grandparents like they were for us. When my boss, Rahul, resigned as vice president of the company, I replaced him.
He left a lucrative position to go back to India to take care of his parents. In India, they expect the children to take care of their parents, just as their parents took care of them when they were growing up. Nursing homes are not an option in India. I agree with Rahul but it’s too late now.”
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Dr. Bergman is a multi-award-winning professor and author. He has 9 degrees and has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level for over 40 years. His over 2,100 publications are in both scholarly and popular journals. Dr. Bergman’s work has been translated into 15 languages. He has spoken over 2,000 times to college, university and church groups in America, Canada, Europe, the South Sea Islands, and Africa. He lives in Montpelier and is available to present in churches and schools. Jerry can be reached at JerryBergman30@yahoo.com Bergman’s website is: https://crev.info/author/jbergman/