Going Home

Going Home: Father’s Day

When your father is alive and well, you tend not to notice all the commercial marketing for Father’s Day. Greeting cards, suggested gifts, television ads, even old jokes about buying that perfect necktie — again — for dear ol’ dad.

Going Home: He is Risen

I’ve had a pretty crappy Lent.

On Wednesday, March 1 — Ash Wednesday — we got the news we didn’t want to hear. The spot the doctors found on my dad’s lung was cancer. Further tests would reveal it was stage four. Three weeks later, my dad died.

Going Home: Opening Day

Today, I will join my mom at Opening Day for the Texas Rangers. We’ll sit in Home Run Porch, in seats marked “Bentrup Family.” My parents, longtime season ticket holders, have been staples in those green chairs. We texted their ballpark usher last week to let him know my dad had gone…

Going Home

This past Wednesday, my father went home.

As hard as it is for my mom, my sisters, me, and our families, Dad was ready. When we met with the oncologist last Monday, he told Dr. Page “I’m ready to go home.” Then on Tuesday, their pastor (and my long-time friend) Peter Couser brought…