I'm going to tell you a true story. No exaggerations, no misrepresentations. Back when my father was clearly very near the end of his life, he was taken to the somewhat local VA hospital. They did a nice job taking care of him. My cousin called me and told me it was definitely the time for the last visit. So I took a week off and drove up from Virginia to western NYS to visit dad. The first few days he was in good spirits and able to have good conversations. But on Friday night he somehow fell out of bed and broke his hip. He was not good at all after that. On Sunday morning I went to the hospital to say goodbye because I had to return to Virginia to work for Monday morning. When I got to the hospital, my dad said I needed to head home. I told him I was not leaving until about 1 p.m., because that would get me back home at about 8 p.m. He got very agitated. "Where are they?" I asked him who he was asking about. "The airmen. They've been here off and on all morning. They need to take me, but they can't do that until you get home. So you need to go now." (He had been in the Air Force for 20 years). I had at least a couple of hours I could still spend with him, but he was getting very agitated. "No, they can't take me until you get home. You need to go now. And don't come back up for the funeral." I told him that of course I would come back for whenever his funeral was. "No, you've got to take care of all those kids. So promise you won't come back. Those kids need you." (I was a school principal). "Go now, and they'll take me when you get home."

So, I felt I needed to go so he would calm down. After a 7 hour drive I got home at approximately 6:10. 3 minutes after I walked in the door, the VA hospital called and told me that my father had just passed.

I make no claims about what it means. I'm just telling you what happened.