Camp

Patrick had a chocolate lab named Camp who he adored (I know the feelings were mutual). Camp was in the truck with him during the accident but survived. Thank you to Jason Gantt and Jim Greene who found him in that field…I know that meant the world to Sue and David. Thank you Dr. Ashwander for checking him out to make sure everything was alright. It still amazes me that someone who was wearing a seatbelt didn’t survive but a dog who was not walked away unharmed, but I guess that was God’s will and not something for me to understand right now. Jody brought Camp home to spend the night with us on Tuesday night. (Side note: Camp is the most well behaved dog I have ever met. I told Jody the only way we could get a dog was if we sent it to Patrick for a couple of months to get trained.) The kids were thrilled the next morning when they discovered our over night guest. They called me at work and I could just hear their excitement. Last night when we were all unloading out of the cars, I asked Banks “Who was at our house when you woke up?” The told me “Camp” and then preceded to tell Jody and me that Patrick told him he could have Camp. I asked him when Patrick told him this and Banks replied back without missing a beat “last week.” Jody and I just stared at each other with a puzzled look on our faces because at this point we had shielded them from the tragedy. Later that night, Jody finally told both of them that Patrick had been in a really bad car accident and had gone to live with Jesus. It was interesting to hear their reactions. I didn’t think Mary Reese would really understand what was going on and I thought Banks would be devastated. After Jody told Banks what had happened, Banks said that the ambulance was supposed to take him to the hospital. Jody told him it did but Patrick had still gone to live with Jesus and watch over us always. He told Jody that Patrick was in heaven with Lilly (our cat) and Bob (Nanny Nan and John B’s cat) and that he would miss him. Mary Reese, on the other hand, cried herself to sleep. They both loved Patrick but will always know that he is watching over them. Thank you all for being so supportive to the entire Murphree family. Your thoughts, prayers and company have kept everyone going during the past week! Please, please take the time to donate blood to Life South in Patrick’s name. They used almost 30 pints of blood on him, so it is so important to us to replace that blood! Also, please consider becoming an organ donor. Patrick was and I would be interested to know how many lives he saved by selflessly giving up the things he no longer needed!