We had no idea there was anything wrong. I sat on the couch in my pjs eating ice cream out of the container and watched the movie Pardes on Zee TV. My dad and I usually spoke around noon every day, but that day he did not answer my calls or texts and I figured he may have been in a meeting, although I was a bit worried because I knew he hadn't been feeling so great, but I didn't think much of it. He usually at least texted me when he wasn't able to speak but I figured he had his reasons.
A friend who knew my dad in Kentucky messaged me saying that he found out my dad was really sick. That's when the doorbell rang. A police officer was at my door. He asked me if this was Ravi Kant's house and if I was his daughter then asked to come in, " What happened? I've been trying to call all day! Is he alright? Please say something!"
" I'm sorry to inform you that he's passed away"
In that one moment my life shattered into a million pieces. I fell to the floor and screamed for my mom, who was sleeping. It obviously wasn't the best way for me to break the news to her but I wasn't in my senses. I asked the police officer to confirm the news with the police station in Kentucky, I was positive he was lying. My dad may have been in the hospital in critical condition for some reason, but he couldn't be gone. He can't leave me. His life LITERALLY revolved around me, everyone knew that. God couldn't take him from me. God could never be that cruel. But unfortunately the officer was right. My dad was gone. Just like that. Luckily my mom and I had both spoken to him the night before. Everything seemed perfectly fine. He spoke to my mom who wasn't feeling well and said " Don't worry just take your medicine and go to sleep, I'm going to bed too it's been a long day."
He left his store that night and seemed fine, except he was out of breath and his face was red. He told his employees that he was going home to take his heart medication and that he would be back at the store early in the morning to get some work done. The next morning when he didn't show up and didn't respond to anyone's calls or messages his employees sent someone out to go check his apartment. That's when they called the police and found him there in bed and clearly not alive.
I snapped out of panic mode just then, stopped crying and called our closest relatives and friends right away who rushed over. Within 2 hours our entire street was practically blocked off because of everyone who came by. My mother and I are truly blessed to have so many people in our lives who genuinely care about us, and who cared about my dad.
The officer then confirmed that my father had passed away due to natural causes, more specifically cardiac arrest. I knew he had been seeing a cardiologist a lot, but every time my mother and I asked what was going on he said it wasn't anything too serious. Something just came out a little odd in the tests so they were just double checking. We took his word for it considering the fact that he was an EMT for years and was extremely health conscious.
I'm going to end this here before I start crying. The rest of the story will be in Part 2 when I'm up for writing it. But if you and your families can take anything from my experience so far, please tell your family you love them every single day. I don't regret anything because my dad and I said I love you every single time we spoke.
And to anyone with any health related problems: PLEASE share what's going on with your family. You never know what can happen and it's always best to keep your loved ones informed rather than shocking them like my dad did. He had his reasons. He didn't want to worry us and he didn't think it was that serious. But I really do wish my dad had just told us what was going on before it was too late. Honestly speaking I don't even think my father had the slightest idea that he wouldn't be waking up the next morning. Life works in strange ways and whether you're ready for it or not, it constantly changes.
As for my mother and I, we're hanging in there. We're putting our brave faces on and are heading back into the world and back into our normal routines (or at least as normal as things can get now) stronger than ever.
