Dad was always the one delivering the knock-out punch.  He did lose a couple of times, but only by decisions.  He never was on the receiving end of a knock-out blow.

And, as he took his first breath in Heaven yesterday, his record was still intact.

Alzheimer's tried to defeat him.

This was the last coherent conversation I had with Dad, on May 13, right after he had taken a very nasty fall which ultimately led to his passing yesterday.  He smiled when I told him he looked like he'd had a rough boxing match, and I wondered how Rocky Marciano looked.  

When I got serious, tearfully hugging him and telling him I was so sorry he got hurt and had to go through all this suffering, his open blue eye sparkled at me and his mind was clearer than it had been for days or would ever be again in my presence.

"God has a perfect plan," he patted my arm and told me.  "We just don't understand what it is."

How prophetic that would be in my life, as just 6 days later I found out I had cancer.

"God has a perfect plan."  Even from Heaven, Daddy's words are comforting me just like he's comforted me through many tough times over my 58 years as his daughter.

Alzheimer's had him on the ropes many times, but Dad never gave up.  Jesus has always been in his corner and eventually, when he'd fought long and hard enough, God interceded and turned the tables, delivering Death the ultimate knock-out punch, and took our sweet Daddy Home.

While we grieve him and hang onto the precious memories we all have of Dad, we would never be selfish enough to want him back.  He's now living what he's strived for all of his life, eternally in the presence of God, with a new healthy body and a perfect brain again! And I know I will be there with him someday, when my God-given purpose on this earth has also been fulfilled. 

We love you, Dad!

And we're so very proud you gave each one of your children a part of your strong, fighting spirit. (Even his genes were strong!)

We all knew that even Alzheimer's couldn't beat our Daddy...he couldn't possible lose when he had Jesus in his corner to help Dad deliver...

...his final knock-out victory.

(In tribute to my amazing Dad, as we're giving him a grand celebration of his life, the first few days of next week I will repost a 3-part interview I did with him a few years ago, before Alzheimer's got a firm grip on him.  He is one-of-a-kind, and I'm so proud he is my Daddy!)