Braxtonsag
Member
Well Friday I went through the first major loss in my life and as the title states, I lost my father. Iv been a lurker and occasional poster here since i got my JK. Growing up, My dad lost his dad at a young age and he really struggled with it throughout my childhood. It hindered his ability to develop a perfect relationship with me but i understood and i never held it against him. After graduating we began to get closer and have that more father son bond that so many have. Fast forward a few years and I have my son. This turned on a light in his heart that he'd been searching for and became one of the most loving men i had ever known. 3 years later in 2016 i had a daughter and this amplified even more so. The time between late 2016 and now we had been hanging out for no reason, bullshitting, and really becoming close. I picked up my JKU in fall of 2017, Soon after he went and picked himself up a new JK. I had talked him into buying my old wheels and tires and he just felt cool as hell having somewhat matching jeeps with his son. A few months ago i talked him into ditching his base 2 door sport and going all out and ordering a Rubicon exactly the way he wanted it. I said it'd be the last jeep he'd ever have to buy and i had huge plans to drag him to Moab, Tennessee, and the local off road park in it this year. He ended up driving an hour away to his favorite dealership and inquiring about it and actually ended up doing it. I had heard from him every single day about the status of his Jeep and how excited he was to get it. The beginning of april rolls around and his Jeep shows up and he falls in love with it, this thing was his PRIDE AND JOY.
On April 12th, I'm under my Jeep cutting and grinding off rear lower shock mounts and i get a phone call from his phone. I picked up and what i thought was my mother laughing hysterically i hear "Brax get over here right now!". I assumed she was wrestling with him and tickling him or something because they'd occasionally call laughing so hard they couldn't even talk. I heard a distress in her voice and asked "Wait are you crying??" and ill never forget her next sentence. She said "yes i think your dad passed away, come on now please" and she was crying heavily. I had just talked to him that morning for about 20 minutes while taking my son to school and we were actually supposed to hang out that day. He had to have some roofing done though and didnt want to leave them alone at the house so he decided to stay home that day but said if i get bored feel free to come out and hang out.
My mother had talked to him at 1:15 PM on her break and everything was fine as always, she arrived home at 3:15PM to find him laying face down in his bed not breathing. Apparently he had suffered from his heart collapsing and it went quickly and with no notice. It takes things like this happening to really make you take life slow and appreciate everything and everyone, and to never take anything or anyone for granted. I'm glad we got to really build our relationship and enjoy life these past years, I had never seen him happier in my life. I had been wanting to post this for the past few days but havent been able to work up the courage.
On April 12th, I'm under my Jeep cutting and grinding off rear lower shock mounts and i get a phone call from his phone. I picked up and what i thought was my mother laughing hysterically i hear "Brax get over here right now!". I assumed she was wrestling with him and tickling him or something because they'd occasionally call laughing so hard they couldn't even talk. I heard a distress in her voice and asked "Wait are you crying??" and ill never forget her next sentence. She said "yes i think your dad passed away, come on now please" and she was crying heavily. I had just talked to him that morning for about 20 minutes while taking my son to school and we were actually supposed to hang out that day. He had to have some roofing done though and didnt want to leave them alone at the house so he decided to stay home that day but said if i get bored feel free to come out and hang out.
My mother had talked to him at 1:15 PM on her break and everything was fine as always, she arrived home at 3:15PM to find him laying face down in his bed not breathing. Apparently he had suffered from his heart collapsing and it went quickly and with no notice. It takes things like this happening to really make you take life slow and appreciate everything and everyone, and to never take anything or anyone for granted. I'm glad we got to really build our relationship and enjoy life these past years, I had never seen him happier in my life. I had been wanting to post this for the past few days but havent been able to work up the courage.
