The day after Harry

I have wanted to blog about a very wonderful man named Harry Finch/Finkelstein, but haven't because of the tough living conditions he was in and didn't know exactly what to say. He lives in our ward and the Bishop asked the Relief Society President and Brian and I to take care of his needs. We did what we could, but Harry was a tough case. He turned 90 on the 18th of February, his house should have been condemned and he honestly should have been in a home. But since we aren't family that wasn't our call, so we did what we could to make his living conditions better.

Mary, the RS. Pres., and I took turns taking him his groceries for a while then we enlisted the help of others. Mary and I started cleaning his house and it being so far beyond us we enlisted the help of others. The worst problem Harry had was his toilet. It didn't work, and it hadn't worked for over a year. I'm not going into the gruesome details of what Harry had to do to with that problem, but I will say that Brian took it upon himself to get Harry a new toilet and install it! Mary says Brian now has a First Class Ticket straight to Heaven just for that one act! YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THE FILTH UNLESS YOU HAD SEEN IT!

Being with Harry was a joy! He had dementia, so we really got to know his stories. He served our country in Okinawa, ran against Jessie Owens, was on the all-star football team in high school, and loved OREO cookies. He never asked for anything but a cola! He ate 1/2 gallon of milk, corn flakes, tuna, 1 loaf of bread, cola, cheese slices, chocolate ice cream, hot dogs, soup, and OREOS! 2 packages a week.

After we would visit Harry he would insist on giving kisses. The best part about leaving Harry's was that I always had an Oreo smudge on my cheek from his kiss.

Harry was so excited the day he found out I was from the Rexburg area. His first wife was from Rexburg. He told me then that me being from Rexburg meant that we were family.

Yesterday Elder Puma called me around 4:30 pm to tell me Harry was not feeling well. He told me that Harry had a sore throat and a pretty bad cough. Harry of course was refusing to go to a doctor and just wanted cough drops for the cough. The Elders were worried about Harry choking on them so they called me and asked me to go help him. I called Mary and we determined it would take more than the two of us to get Harry out of the house and to the hospital so we called our husbands and planned a scheme involving a Coke and a candy bar to get Harry out of the house and to the hospital.

Brian and Matt got to Harry's at 7:15 and felt the house was too dark. When they got up to the door he didn't answer. They opened the door, looked in his chair to see if he was asleep, he wasn't there. Brian walked over to the dinning room light, switched it on and Matt found Harry in the hall laying peacefully in his home where he wanted to be when he died. Brian called the police immediately and they were there within 3-5 minutes. Brian started chest compressions while they were waiting for the police. Harry was still warm when they found him, so we had missed him only by minutes.

I'm so happy Harry is home now with his sweet wives. He loved them both so much and spoke highly of them often.

The last time I saw Harry, Brother Ben Balois was giving him a trim of his beard and cutting his hair. He had the whitest hair. It was always so fluffy too! He looked so good after the hair cut. He said he felt lighter! It was such a pleasure to be in his home Tuesday, cleaning up for Harry. He was tired but very happy we were there with him. I am going to miss him!

I couldn't help but think of Harry this morning as I walked Hannah and Brock to school. It was snowing light fluffy flakes. The sky was blue so the snow fall looked a little like a miracle to me. But the fluffiness of the snow make me think of Harry's hair . I had to take a few pictures so I could remember the day after Harry. God be with you til we meet again Harry! Oreo Kisses to you!