A celebration of his life...

These past two days we celebrated Dad's life and had to say goodbye to his time here on earth. We stood for 4 hours straight on Thursday listening to how much of an impact my Dad had on people. We received lots of hugs and many tears were shed. It was such a blessing to hear how much he meant to people and how much he was loved.

 The Mass was beautiful, touching and such a wonderful way to send him back to Lord. The eulogy, given by our Aunt Mary, was perfect in every way. It touched all aspects of his life and personified him beautifully. The burial was cold, yet fitting as Father Eric committed his body to the ground. An Indy 500 race flag was added as a final touch.

Finally, a celebration luncheon was held at Mike's Dance Barn, where all gathered for food and fellowship. It was a beautiful blend of all the different people that loved my Dad. We listened to some live bluegrass music as the grandkids danced around. He would have loved that the best. He loved live music and he loved his grandkids.

It was a perfect tribute!

We can not thank everyone enough for the support you gave to us over these two months and most recently these past few days. Thank you for bringing food, giving cards, flowers and gifts. Thank you for setting up and cleaning up for the luncheon. Thank you to the guys who graciously used their gift of music to entertain us. Thank you also for all the hugs, stories, prayers and love that you poured out upon us. As you have loved us, you are at the same time honoring and loving my Dad. He would have been happy to know that you all loved us so well during this time.

I plan to use this blog as a place that I can remember my Dad, so feel free to keep stopping by as we all continue in our grief!

A beautiful picture of marriage....

Mom and Dad celebrating their 30th anniversary 2 years ago.

They got to celebrate their 32nd anniversary in the hospital this year.

What a beautiful picture of marriage, through good times and bad!

Mom hardly left his side throughout the whole two months and loved him into eternity!

Celebration Luncheon....

Just wanted to let you all know that we will be having a luncheon to celebrate Dad directly after the burial service at Mike's Dance Barn and everyone is welcome. There will be plenty of food and maybe even some live music for all to enjoy! It will be a great time to remember him and tell stories, so we hope to see you all there.

Mike's Dance barn is located on State Rd. 46 between Nashville and Bloomington.
2277 State Road 46
Nashville IN 47448
Website http://mikesmusicbarn.com/

Papaw playing his fiddle for the grandkids!!

Obituary...

Donald Joseph Schmidt

January 3, 1954 - December 2, 2011

Donald Schmidt, 57, of Nashville passed away Friday at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. He was born on January 3, 1954 in Indianapolis, IN, the son of Donald and Winifred (Matthews) Schmidt.

Donald was a graduate of Cathedral High School and received an Associate's Degree in photography from Ivy Tech. He was a chef for the Cornerstone Inn and former chef at the Seasons Lodge in Nashville, IN. He was a member of St. Agnes Catholic Church and board president of Mother's Cupboard in Brown County. He was an avid Indianapolis 500 fan, loved photography and enjoyed being a hands on papaw to his many grandchildren, especially enjoyed the yearly tradition of building gingerbread houses with his grandchildren. He lived his life with a great faith in God and genuinely loved people.
Donald is survived by his loving wife Nancy (Glowner) Schmidt; two daughters Christy Schmidt of Brown County and Annie Luidhardt (Gene) of Bloomington; two sons Carl Taylor (Lachelle) of Mooresville and Chris Taylor (Melissa) of Brown County; two sisters Ann Bastin (Terry) of Greenwood and Cate Schmidt of Indianapolis; two brothers Jim Schmidt (Mary) of South Bend and Bill Schmidt (Kristy) of Buchanan, MI; seventeen grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Donald was preceded in death by his parents and one son Joseph Taylor.

A Funeral Mass will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 9, 2011 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Nashville with Father Eric Johnson officiating. Burial will follow at Duncan Cemetery. Family will receive friends from 4-8 p.m. Thursday at the church and one hour prior to services on Friday.
In memory of Donald memorial contributions may be made to Mother's Cupboard at 5294 N. State Road 135 Morgantown, IN 46160.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.allenfuneralhome.org

Accommodations....

Two great places to stay for those who are coming from out of town.

Cornerstone Inn (The place that Dad worked)
1-888-383-0300   Website is www.cornerstoneinn.com

Hotel Nashville (The place that Mom and Christopher work at)
1-800-848-6274  Website is www.hotelnashville.com

Cornerstone Inn....

Angela, Dad and Pam
I took this photo on Oct. 8th at Cornerstone Inn, the wonderful place where Dad worked. He loved his co-workers and found much joy working there. It was such a blessing that he was surrounded by so many supportive and caring people that loved the Lord.

Thank you to Pam and the Cornerstone Family for being such a blessing to my Dad and to us! 

Arrangements....

It just doesn't seem real yet and I just keep thinking we will see him soon. We had the meeting at the funeral home today and all of 4 of us went with mom. We made decisions but it wasn't as hard as we thought it might be. I think since we were doing it all together, it made things easier.

We will be having a viewing on Thursday December 8th from 4 pm to 8 pm at St Agnes Catholic Church in Nashville, Indiana. There will be a one hour viewing at 10 am on Friday December 9th followed by Mass at 11 am, also,at St. Agnes. St. Agnes Church is located on 1008 McLary Road Nasville, IN 47448.

We will continue to update as we get more information in place.

Our precious Daddy....

Our precious Daddy went home to be with the Lord at 11:15 pm tonight. Our hearts hurt so much and we already miss him lots. We all were able to express our love to him and were there for his last breaths. He was such a good Daddy!!

We'll update tomorrow as we get all the information. Thanks again for lifting our family up during this difficult time. We felt your prayers and the Lord has been faithful.

  "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is the shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Psalm 18:1-2

Evening update....

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Dad's hanging on but his stats are getting lower. His oxygen level is around 80 now and his blood pressure is pretty low. He is resting comfortably and doesn't seem to be in any pain. We've had lots of wonderful people stop by to love on us. We got to hear fun stories about our Dad from his buddies from Cathedral which was great. Five of his friends from Cornerstone, the place he worked, stopped in to pray which was awesome too. The Lord has been here and he is giving us peace. Thank you so much for praying!

Keep praying...

Please, just keep praying! I'm here at the hospital with my Dad, where he is on double oxygen at 100%. He started having breathing issues this morning around 5 and they had to put him on the highest oxygen level. Dr. Joyce at this point just wants to keep him comfortable because there is nothing more medically they can do. They have started a morphine drip to make sure he isn't in any pain. We are with him now praying and speaking the Word of God over his life. We know healing could be one touch a way but we also know that the Lord may be taking him home. Either way, we are trusting in him. We just love our Dad so much!

Dr Joyce also said he was proud to be his doctor and just wished we would have had more time. He also said he would be praying for us. He's been a very good doctor to us.

Thank you so much for your prayers! May the Lord be glorified!!

Evening update.....

I just left hospital and I am happy to report that he is sleeping. He is still a little fidgety but at least he sleeping more today then previously. Mom is staying with him tonight, so just pray that he has a good night's sleep. His legs and feet are pretty swollen, even though he is on lasix. (the medicine that takes fluid from the body) We discussed today about what the next steps should be, but we never came to a definitive answer. We will most likely have through the weekend to decide. Pray that God gives us peace in our decision. At the same time, we keep wanting that medical miracle and are praying that this pneumonia will be gone.

I also wanted to let you know that we have the most amazing nurses. We have come to know so many of them in this last month and they truly do care about our Dad. It actually brings tears to my eyes to know how much they care. We truly are blessed! Many of them stop in and say hi to Dad even when he is not one of their patients. It really does make the hospital stay more manageable!

Finally, some have asked how to leave comments or prayers for my Dad. It's pretty easy, just click on the comments link underneath the post and use the "Name/URL" one. All you have to do is type in your name and you do not have to have a URL. You will not need a special account for this one. Also if you want the updates to come to you by email, then sign up on the side bar. (I hope it works) If you don't mind making an account, then the google connect friends is a good way to get the updates too. Thank you so much for all your support, love and prayers!!

Prayer Requests
-Pneumonia to be gone
-Swelling in his legs to go down
-Continue to sleep and for it to be restful
-For mom to get a good night's sleep as well

Payton and her Papaw

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful"

Hebrews 10:23

The Morning update.....

Well, we didn't get very encouraging news this morning. We thought his pneumonia was getting better but it's not. The chest x-ray they took yesterday and the one they took this morning shows that it's actually may be getting worse. The hardest part to hear this morning was that the doctor doesn't believe that he's going to beat the pneumonia. He even said that the confusion that he is experiencing might be because of the lack of oxygen getting to his body. His stats are still okay but his lungs may not be spreading it well throughout his body. Dad is very restless and did not sleep again last night. The doctor also wants us to start thinking about our options from here on out. He mentioned a nursing home and hospice. Honestly, from the outside it looked like he was getting a little better and we were hoping he would be home for Christmas, so it was pretty hard to hear the news this morning.

At the same time, we know that God can heal him at any moment and we don't want to give up on that hope. Our prayer is that God will let us have him for many more years! We know God is sovereign and that His will is perfect so we will trust Him no matter what. Please keep praying!!

We took this picture on Thanksgiving Day.

November 30th....

Our Dad is loved by so many, which is so encouraging. We get lots phone calls, texts, emails and visits from all kinds of friends and family. Actually, one of the main reasons we started this blog was to keep everyone updated more easily. We will try and update at least once a day until he gets better.

He didn't sleep well last night and didn't get much rest in today, so we really hope he sleeps better tonight. Our brother Christopher is with him tonight so Mom could go home and rest. As I left tonight at 11 pm, he had just moved to the cozy recliner to sleep, so maybe he's sleeping good now.

He's breathing much better these few days, though he's still short of breath when talking. Dr. Joyce thinks the pneumonia is starting to break up which is a good thing. They also moved him down to 8 liters of oxygen and the doctor wants to continue to wean him down from there. He got a chest x-ray today, so we should find out about that tomorrow. He didn't eat much today but he was pretty tired. He's still taking lasix to get rid of the fluid and he's on a couple of different antibiotics for the pneumonia.

The only new concern is that he's getting confused from time to time. I think he realizes right after he says something that it doesn't make sense but he did it quite a bit today. I'm sure there are many reasons why this is happening and probably the number one reason is lack of sleep.

Thank you all so much for loving our Dad and caring so much! We thank you so much for the flowers, the cards, the messages, the visits, and mostly we thank you for the prayers. I truly believe that he's getting better because of them! Keep praying!!

Prayer Requests
-Sleep
-The congestion and echo in his ears to clear up, so he can be apart of conversations again.
-The confusion to clear up
-Pneumonia to continue to get better