...The Franklin Foursome...: April 2009

The phone call in the middle of the night will usually be one of two things: a drunken misdial or bad news. When our phone rang sometime after 3 a.m. on the morning of March 27th, I was hoping for the drunken misdial....

Eric's dad went into the hospital for a hip replacement on March 24th. He called us late that evening to let us know that the surgery had gone well. Eric called him on Wednesday to check on him. He was doing okay. He was hoarse. He said that he had some sinus drainage and it was irritating his throat. But he said he felt pretty good. On Thursday evening, I asked Eric if he had talked to his dad; had he gone home? Eric decided to call him around 8:30. They talked for a little while. Speck said that he had gotten up to walk twice that day. He told Eric that he was running a little fever and was getting antibiotics. He also told Eric that the doctor had said he could go home on Friday. Eric told him to give him a call and let him know that he went home. The last thing I heard Eric say was, "I love you, Dad."

Our phone rang in the middle of the night. I looked at the clock: some time after 3 a.m. Who could be calling at this hour? Speck's cell phone number was on the caller id display. When I answered, it was Kay (Speck's wife) asking to speak to Eric. I knew it wasn't good. I could only hear Eric's end... disbelief evident in his voice. Resuscitate him? Why? What do you mean...not going to make it? I'm coming. Right now.

As we would learn later, Speck had gone to bed. The nurse had gone in to check his vitals. She told him that she was going to take his b/p. Speck threw out his arm for her, and then went back to sleep. About an hour later, she stepped back into his room to find him breathing hard. His pulse was thready. She called the charge nurse. He crashed. They resuscitated him, and moved him to CICU.

Eric jumped up and jumped into the shower. He started throwing clothes into a bag. Then the phone rang again...it had only been about 30 minutes since the first call. It was Kay. Speck was gone.

We made the trip to Levelland that afternoon, and arrived to freezing temps and snow. It just didn't seem real. I hadn't expected to make this trip until July! Friends and family began to gather. Speck had so many friends. Plans were made for the funeral. Eric and Tony were tasked with choosing the palbearers. There were so many to choose from. We knew that there were to be 8 honorary from the Littlefield ISD administration. So my idea was to have "innies" and "outies". Eight to take him in and eight to take him out. Twenty-four total.

His service was not sad. It was touching. There was laughter. Friends gathered to remember Speck; to tell stories. I told Eric that I was jealous of many of the people at the funeral. After all, they had gotten to be a part of Speck's life a lot longer than I had. Tony gave a beautifully touching eulogy. He talked about what a wonderful friend and dad Speck had been. I know that he was a wonderful father-in-law. And he was a wonderful grandfather. I'm sad that my children will miss growing up with Papa Speck. And I will miss him. (ccf)