My world fell apart

I was 18 when my dad died.
He was my step-dad, but I loved him just the same.
He never treated my brothers and I any differently than he did his own children.
We knew with out a doubt that he loved us.
He was 6 feet 2inches tall, about 185 lbs.
He had what I call salt and pepper hair, an olive skin tone. He was naturally dark. He had brown eyes that seemed to dance in the light.

My dad was my best friend. He had been with my mom since I was 10 years old.
One day there was a man out side blasting music.
My mom asked him to turn it down just a little bit.

Most people would have but this man blasted it louder. Mom asked him to leave the premises.
The man would not go.

He started up the stairs after my mom. He was going to beat her up. Dad stepped up to protect my mom. The crazy man pulled my dad down the stairs outside the apartment.

Dad came crashing to the ground. The crazy man proceeded to beat my dad as he lay unconcious.

the crazy man kicked my dad's ribs repeatedly.
Some one called 911.
The crazy man (A.K.A.The beast) was arrested.
My dad was taken by ambulance to Robinson Memorial Hospital.
He was stablized and then Air lifted to Akron General Hospital.
It was there that we found out the full extent of his injuries.

My dad lay unconcious in the intensive care unit. He had a fractured skull, swelling and I think bleeding on the brain. He had a broken collar bone, Several broken ribs, and loss of memory.

The only person he knew when he woke up was my mom. He didn't Remember me, my brothers, or even his own dad.

My dad recovered well, but the migraines and seizures plagued him for the rest of his life.
Things were great with my dad. He only hit me once in all the time he was with my family. I deserved it. I was cursing at him.

One day I got a feeling that something wasn't right. On a Monday night I had this urge to call my mother but the number she had was disconnected.
Tuesday night the urge was a little bit stronger.
By Friday night I'd had enough. I called information and got my mom's new number.

I was pissed when I found out she had moved.
I settled down pretty fast.
Then mom said are you sitting down? I said I'm laying across the bed. Then came the words I already knew. What I had felt deep in the pit of my stomach. "Daddy died" I heard my mother say.

I was upset but unable to cry.
I had no way to get there in time for the memorial service but I was there the next day. I cried some but not like I wanted to.

My youngest brother threw a fit and kicked over the fan when mom told him he wasn't allowed outside. I swatted him on his behind and told him that was no way to behave. He straightened up. I held him for a few minutes.

I conned my mother into letting me take him to wendy's for Ice cream. He wore his rollerblades. He fell once going up the hill. I told him if he broke his arm again I would break all his bones for him. He laughed at me!!!! I wanted to scoop him up in my arms like I did when he was little but he had gotten way to big.

Then he told me dad had a seizure and then a heart attack before he even came around from the seizure. He said it was all over pretty fast and dad never felt a thing.

I was just glad he was no longer suffering. I still miss him but it has gotten much easier.