Dads Rock in Heaven

October 9, 2023

Lynn Hernandez,

Wow, so much to catch you up on since my last blog, and not all good.

Back in August, you may remember my blog, “Summer Road Trip.”

It was a super fun and exciting road trip with my two kids to Ohio to see my dad. Both my birthday and my dad’s birthday are in the first week of August. I host a radio show in Dayton, Ohio, so we were multi-tasking.

While it was very much fun, it was scary for me to think it might be the last time I see my dad, and it was.

God had blessed us with the means to get to Ohio, especially since only two days before we were supposed to leave, my car (that I loved!) had gone kaput on me. We were stuck in the car dealer for 3 hours before the grave news that it was going to cost as much to fix it as it’s worth.

Even though I’ve not found full-time employment since the pandemic and money is tight, I threw caution to the wind and, instead of canceling our trip and risk my kids not seeing their Pah Pah one more time, signed for a new car to use on our trip.

The kids, of course, loved it. I had peace of mind knowing we had super reliable transpiration for the 2,000 mile road trip. And “new car smell” is a thing! Nothing like it.

With so much going on during that trip, many things could have gone wrong but If you read in my previous blog, you’ll see that everything went as perfect as I could have imagined, and more!

Sadly, on September 16, my dad passed away at the age of 85.

It was a tough week. Only four days before my dad passed away, one of my best friends since I was 11 years old committed suicide. His name was Jeff Baldridge.

Both my kids met him, but my youngest didn’t remember him because she was really young. However, for my 13 year old son, Atticus, it was a “strange” lesson in mortality.

Both my kids loved their grandfather, but having only seen him a few times over the last several years means they weren’t terribly close. We talked on the phone often, however.

If you’ve been in the same situation, how did you break the news to your kids about the passing of their grandparents?

I was pretty straight forward and to the point. Sadly, my son was at boarding school at the time so I had to tell him over the phone. He took it well at the moment, a bit shocked, of course. I worried about him later that night after it soaked in and I wasn’t able to be there for him.

Angel, my 9-year-old daughter is so sweet. She just loves life so much and loved her grandfather. Having seen him only two weeks earlier she was in shock when I told her, then started to cry a bit. We hugged it out, and she felt better.

I kept it together pretty well, only breaking down later, privately.

How did your kids handle news like that? I’d love to know. Please email me your stories. I find it comforting knowing I’m not alone.

Lynn@Tulsa-Rocks.com

Rocklahoma

There’s really no way to transition from that to rocking out at the largest annual music festival in Oklahoma but my dad always loved the crazy radio life I chose for my career, so he more than anyone would want me to carry on. The show must go on!

So, a week before my dad passed was Rocklahoma. It has been my biggest and busiest week of the whole year since it started in 2007.

This year was fun and a bit scary…