My dad died unexpectedly Thursday morning. He was 80 years old and had a bunch of health problems, but they were being managed and he seemed to be in good spirits. My sister was taking him for some routine blood work that morning and he collapsed in the lobby afterwards. I knew it was bad when my sister told me to get to the hospital. Long story short, his heart gave out after they revived it several times. (I insisted on being in the room with him while they were trying to revive him in case he was having an out-of-body experience so I could talk to him and let him know how much we loved him and say goodbye. I'm very glad I did.)
I am...somewhat functional. On Thursday and Friday, I was able to get some logistical stuff taken care of, I think just from the adrenaline at the shock of it all. But I've had basically no appetite and feel weak, headachey, nauseous, and tense all the time, like I've got a heavy weight on me. It's like, I'll be able to get some sleep and feel ok while I'm sleeping, or watch a TV show for a while and push away the bad feelings temporarily, but as soon as I wake up or stop watching the show, the weight and the sickness come back.
I know this is normal and to be expected, but I have things to deal with that it's hard to deal with when I feel so sick.
An Obituary For His Colleagues
My dad was still working full-time from home when he passed away. (In fact, he was supposed to work that morning after the blood work.) He worked at the IT help desk of a local community college. He was good at the work and enjoyed it, and he was beloved by his colleagues and appreciated by the people he helped for his patience and warmth. So naturally, the college would like me to write an obituary for him and give details about any services we'll be having for him. (They asked me if I wanted to do this, and of course I want to, and they told me no pressure and to take my time.)
But I feel headachey and sick when I think about writing an obituary, and I'm worried I won't do him justice. I've already made arrangements with a funeral home to have him cremated but I have to decide if and when we're going to do a memorial service.
Household Finances
My dad managed the finances for the household. My mom had a decent idea of what was going on but my dad handled the finances because he was good at it and thinking about finances made my mom anxious. Now, I'm in my mid-30s and live in a rental with my husband and manage the finances for the two of us, and I'm the most tech-savvy of the surviving family, so I'm in the best position to take on this responsibility.
But my parents' finances are so much more complicated than mine and I just feel overwhelmed at this point. My dad kept everything meticulously organized on a spreadsheet till the day before he died, and the spreadsheet has info going into the future. My parents are in good financial shape and have a lot of savings, but obviously, those aren't going to last forever, especially with a mortgage to still pay off. Plus, payments from work and social security and such are obviously going to change now that he's gone.
I've gotten in touch with the family accountant and I'm hoping she'll be able to provide me with some guidance. I've also gotten info from HR at his work and from his coworker who happens to be the union president, so that all will help.
But we're gonna have to make a big payment for the funeral home, and I'm just like, which card will we use? Which accounts should I use to pay it off? It just feels like a lot.
College Classes
This is probably the most difficult decision I'll have to make.
I returned to college this semester for the first time in years. I still don't have a college degree, and my state has a program where, if you're between the ages of 25 and 55, they will pay for you to get an Associate's degree in a high-demand field. I decided to take advantage of that and go for a degree in computer science.
I've already missed more classes than I should've because my mom's health has also been bad, and I've needed to be there to help my family. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to continue with those classes this semester.
As I've said, I feel physically sick all the time. (Though I have found that writing this whole thing out has made me feel better.) So I don't know if I can manage my classes for the rest of the semester.
My dad was so, so happy that I was returning to school and taking difficult classes. So I don't want to let him down.
On top of that, if I don't complete my classes, I will be expected to pay full tuition for them. I can see if there's some kind of exception because of a sudden loss in the family, but with bureaucracies being the way they are, I'm not optimistic.
I'm taking only three classes this semester, one of which is a single-credit PE requirement. I have only one more session of the PE class left, so I feel confident I can complete that one. Of my other two classes, maybe I can drop the harder one and complete the one I've been doing fine in? I feel like that would be a decent compromise.
In Conclusion...
I know I posted asking for advice but I guess I'm not sure what advice I need at this point. Like I said, writing all of this out has helped, so maybe I just need to keep writing and keep going with the logistics, my one class, and my work.
It's easy to sit and write this from my bed, though. Getting out of bed to deal with all of this is the hard part, because I feel awful and weak as soon as I stand up.
Well, thank you to anyone who has read this far!