Funeral Arrangements

Hello all. We've just returned from a full day of meetings to plan and prepare for dad's funeral. Here's what we've lined up:

• Visitation. The visitation will be Tuesday, May 12 from 6-8 p.m. at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home in Garner. The address is 1200 Benson Road, Garner, NC 27529.
  
• Funeral. The funeral will be Wednesday, May 13 at 2 p.m. at Aversboro Road Baptist Church in Garner. The address is 1600 Aversboro Road, Garner, NC 27529.
  
• Graveside Service. The service will be immediately following the funeral service on Wednesday. It will be held at Montlawn-Pinecrest in Clayton. The address is 12830 U.S. Highway 70 West, Clayton, NC 27520.

Several of you have asked about sending flowers. If you need a recommendation on a florist that is in Garner, you are welcome to contact Special Arrangements Florist in Garner. You can reach them at (919) 779-2000.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you tomorrow evening at the visitation.

PS-- please don't forget to send me your "Norm Story" if possible!

Remembering a Happy Time

All-- Dad's condition is pretty much the same now as it was yesterday evening. The only difference is that the medical team has put an oxygen mask on him to assist him with pain-free breathing. I will keep you updated if anything changes.

I do appreciate those of you that we've heard from regarding your "Norm Story." Since I posted that item yesterday, I've thought a little more about it and I'd like to ask you to send me your "Norm Story" via e-mail. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with them right now, but I'd love to have them if possible. You can send them to jondparks@gmail.com. I greatly appreciate your willingness to share your stories about dad.

And speaking of sharing, I have a couple of photos to share with each of you (side & below). Last Saturday was my daughter's 4th birthday. She was very excited about her birthday because it would be at Rolesville Park and would involve birthday cake! But we were excited, too, because we knew that mom and dad would be able to come over that morning to watch Anna run around and play with all of her friends and they'd get to see Ryan working on taking steps as he gets closer to walking on his own.

Well, we had a great time. Dad was doing quite well and enjoyed every minute of it. Mom got to hold Ryan's hands and walk around under the picnic shelter. And towards the end, we took two photos that I'll always treasure. One is of Dad and Ryan with Dad looking down on him and the other is of Mom, Dad, Melinda, Anna and Ryan. In retrospect, it seems as though one of the things that dad was holding on so he could be included in was Anna's birthday. That was special and I'm glad that it worked out that he and mom were able to attend.

Friday Afternoon Update

All,
We just met a while ago with the hospice nurse and with Dr. O. Dad's condition has digressed throughout the day. He has a lot of fluid that is settling in his lungs and it is causing him to cough quite a bit and to be unsettled. They did an X-ray of dad's chest to see if he has pneumonia, and while we haven't heard of the results, they believe this to be the case. Even if that turns out to be the situation, it is likely that we won't treat it as this is part of those final stages. The Hospice nurse did let us know that based on the signs she's seeing, she doesn't believe it will be much longer. That's tough to write, but we know that it is ultimately what is best for dad. Naturally, I will keep you updated on the latest.

I do have one request of each of you. We've heard a lot from many of you during the past several months and it seems that everyone has at least one favorite "Norm Story." We've laughed at many of those, and shed a few tears over some others, but I don't want those stories to be forgotten. Would you write them down? I'd like to be able to hold on to those as a way for each of us, and especially my children, to have a good understanding of dad. I know that dad has touched many, many lives and I want to be able to carry those on into the future.

Thank you for your love and support. We continue to welcome visitors if you would like to come by.

Much love-- The Parks Family