Paula’s Dad is Hospitalized

Paula and Her Proud Father in Karachi, Pakistani

Paula With Her Dad at Collonges, France 1955 

Paula and Her Dad at Her Wedding May 1,1965 Riverside, California

Paula’s Mom & Dad with Their Newborn Grandson, Michael

Michael Held by His Grandpa, Aubyn Scott

Birthday Party for Paula’s  Dad at Ferrell’s Ice Cream Parlor Riverside, CA  November 1973

Paula’s Dad at a Luau in Hawaii October, 1976

Paula’s Dad and Mom with Friends Visiting Hawaii

Paula’s Dad and Mother’s Final Resting Place in Hawaii 

Paula’s Dad became ill in Riverside, California and was hospitalized for a short time. The doctor took me aside and told me that Paula’s Dad was very ill and has suffered a congested heart failure in addition to having double pneumonia. He was on a breathing machine and was being given antibiotics intro-venously. The doctor told me that the prognosis was very grim. Paula’s Dad had contracted tuberculosis when he was a young man over in Pakistan and at that time he had 1/2 of one of his lungs removed and the other one had severe scaring which affected his breathing. The doctor told me that Paula’s parents had bought and paid for a trip to the Hawaiian Islands and it was only a few days before they were scheduled to depart. Paula’s parents had tried to postpone or reschedule the trip but was informed that neither options were available to them. The doctor was aware of this and told me privately that I should encourage them to take the trip as planned and added that Paula’s dad was very close to death and “he might as well pass away on the beach in Hawaii as in their hospital room”.

I did not relay this information to either Paula or her parents but did all that I could to make them go on that vacation to Hawaii. They finally agreed at the last minute and Paula and I rushed them to the airport to meet up with the rest of their tour group. He took a portable breathing machine with him and was still on heavy antibiotics. He was still very weak and his cheeks were pale. His fingernails were an ashen color and I thought that he was going to be returning in a coffin. However their trip was uneventful and they returned in three weeks suntanned, rosey-cheeked  and very much more energetic than before when they left. They were excited about Hawaii and discussed retiring early and moving there. The big thing stopping them was that they did not want to be separated from their Grandchildren, Michael and Michelle. So being the nice fellow that I am (and knowing what the doctor had told me in private) I announced that that wouldn’t be a problem we would just sell our new house that we loved so much, quit our really good jobs and just all move to Hawaii. Of course I left out a lot of  the previous sentence when I told them that. I was so secure in the knowledge that the doctor shared with me that I could just pretend to go along with this crazy plan until we had the funereal and then we could get back to our normal lives.

Our house was on a street of about 26 homes and there were 5 homes for sale by Realtors on either side of our street. I placed a for sale by owner sign in the front yard confident that I’d just ask too much and the people would go away. Paula’s parents also listed their home with a Realtor  and told his work about his plans to move to Hawaii.

They had taken their trip to Hawaii in the first part of November, 1973 and Paula, the kids and I arrived at the Hilo, Hawaii airport to start our new adventure on January 1, 1974. It went that fast. A young couple came to look at the house and offered to pay us cash twice what we had paid for it 5 years earlier (That story later) and we couldn’t turn them down. Paula’s parents were able to sell there home 4 months later and we flew back to California to help them pack-up and move.

Oh yeah, Paula’s Dad passed away in Hawaii like the Doctor had predicted only it was 16 years later!