Keeper of the Clown Bell

My dad passed away a few weeks ago. It was a long time coming - like 25 years of slow, steady decline - but it was especially tough during the past 3 months when he lost freedom of movement and awareness of his surroundings. He stopped eating and drinking and, after one final guilt trip protestation, was put on a morphine drip and euthanized by the hospital hospice unit. His two wives, 5 children and some of his grandchildren were able to visit with him in his final days. On 10/8 he died which is the inverse of the date of his birth which was 8/10 and was a fitting symmetrical end time for a man obsessed with proportion. My two sisters, mother and one of my brothers worked up  a wonderful obituary for the man  which mom posted on her blog and  spread around the internet  for all to see. Dad's second wife was missing in action for most of the post mortem planning including the mortuary visits, funeral planning and gravesite acquisition. Dad hadn't planned any of this ...