RIP dad

I would like to say thanks to all the very nice and comforting comments on my last blog post. 

Normally I try to answer all comments, but as you can probably understand, my mind was a bit occupied.

Monday the 14th of December we had a meeting with the doctors from the hospital, and they told us that there was nothing more that they could do. 

So later on Monday my dad was transferred from the intensive care department back to the neurological department where they would keep him covered with morphine so he didn't have any pains.

Since he was now officially dying, it was possible for all our families to come and see him, so I called home with the sad news and told Mette and the kids that they should prepare themselves and that they should drive to Aarhus so we could all say good bye to my dad.

We gathered around my dads bed one family at the time, and we sang a few songs for him. He looked just like he was sleeping, and he was breathing calmly.

We then said good bye, and Mette and the kids drove home. 

I stayed in Aarhus at my brothers place, and we went back to the hospital from eleven to one o'clock in the evening before going back to his place to sleep.

The next morning we went back, and we could hear on my fathers breath that it was not getting better at all. So we sat and comforted each other and held my fathers hand till he passed away.

The next days I used to complete the coffin, and I brought it with me home to my parents house where we would plan the funeral with the priest and the undertaker.

Building the coffin brought a lot of tears to my eyes, but it was still a very good experience, and I thought a lot of my dad while building it. Most of the hand tools I used for the build were given to me by him, and I even made the pins first as he liked. When I had to drive a screw into the wood for holding the handles, I only used 1st gear on the Makita. My dad didn't like it when people used 2nd gear for driving screws, as he believed they would loose the feel and drive the screw too long into the wood. So to honor him, I did it the way I knew that he would like.

I spread a 4" thick layer of the shavings from the thickness planer over the bottom of the coffin, and then covered these shavings with a linen sheet.

I filled a pillowcase with shavings too, and put that on top of the mattress.

The lifts for the handles were turned from my parents old sycamore tree, and Gustav turned some small plugs that would be used to secure the lid. These were made of sycamore, apple and hornbeam. 

On the end of each of the small plugs I burned either JJJ or 3xJ as my fathers name was Jens Jørgen Jensen, and he often joked that some kids he knew when he was a teacher had called him "triple J"

On the lid of the coffin I had made a cross that was inlaid with ebony. After sanding it and turning the rest of the lid grey, I reasoned that it was probably better to plane and scrape it all once more which I did.

Finally I gave the coffin a couple of layers of shellac, and I had to accept the fact that the build was over.

We held the funeral service Tuesday the 22nd, and though the pandemic made it somewhat different compared to what we would have liked, it was a good funeral and it gave us all peace.

Jens Jørgen Jensen

26-05-1943

15-12-2020

Ebony inlay

Shellac finish

Triple J

Complete with handles

RIP dad

Decorated with Scandinavian flags 

Making a coffin

Since my last post, my dad has been through a lot.

He was transferred from the nursing home to a hospital and back and forth a couple of times. Until at last the hospital admitted that they didn't know what was wrong with him, and had him transferred to a university hospital in Aarhus (Skejby hospital). He was assigned to the neurological department, and they were optimistic in the beginning that they would be able to sort it all out and get him back on his feet again. 

About three weeks ago, he slipped into a coma, and he was moved to the intensive care department. He was attached to a respirator, but he has stayed in a coma ever since. 

Last Monday my older brother had a meeting with the doctors, and my younger brother and I participated via a telephone. 

The doctors admitted that they didn't know what was wrong with my dad and that they were running out of ideas about what it could be. And while the clock was ticking away, the damage on his brain as they could assess via MR scans had worsened.

They said that they would give him a week more of treatment/trying to find out what is wrong with hi, and if no progress/luck, they would switch to palliative treatment. 

With that information I applied for a leave from my ship, and headed home to be with the family.

Due to the pandemic, my older brother is the only one who is allowed to visit my dad as long as he is in intensive care. If they move him into palliative care it should be possible for us all to come and visit him and say good bye.

In order to keep my thoughts at bay, I have started making a coffin.

I hope and pray that he won't be needing it for long, but I am beginning to feel less sure about it.

The coffin is made out of pine, and every time I cut or plane a board, the smell reminds me of when I was in the workshop with my father as a child.

I am not rushing the project in any way, and there is a great deal more sighing from my side during the process compared to whenever I normally make a project.

Take care y'all