Yesterday afternoon, Jim Blake passed away. Jim is Rachel's beloved Daddy and Charles beloved father-in-law. We are all in shock and we are anxiously awaiting Charles and Rachel's flight out of Washington to get home to the family so that we can put our arms around them and comfort them. Here is the e-mail Rachel sent out last night.....
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This is the hardest e-mail I’ve ever had to write. I apologize for the mass e-mail, but it has been a really rough night.
I was planning on sending an e-mail out tomorrow, but after being unable to go to sleep, I realized that I needed to ask for your prayers now.
Around 5:30 this afternoon, I got a call from our house sitter letting me know that my stepmother, Carol, had called asked that I call her back immediately. I knew instantly that something was seriously wrong. I called her, she told me my dad had collapsed at work, was unconscious, and that the paramedics were rushing him to Crawford Long hospital. She was at home, in panic mode, trying to find someone to drive her to the hospital. After talking to her, I sat in our hotel room (we are in>Washington, D.C where Charles has been attending a conference), stared at the wall, and just cried. I work with a lot of heart patients, so my thoughts instantly turned to that as well as the fact that my dad has a strong family history of heart disease. His own father died as a result of a heart attack when he was 49 years old. We had talked about how important it was for him to see a cardiologist, because of his age and family history. We got the news that he died from a massive heart attack around 7:00 tonight. Words can’t describe the emotions we all felt and are still feeling —shock, anger, sadness, just to name a few.
My dad was 59. We were just joking about his 60th birthday party the other day and had even exchanged several e-mails today. I had thought about calling him to chat (as we often do) today, but then decided he was probably busy at work and figured I’d call him over the weekend when we would really have a chance to talk. I really wish I had called him today. We were extremely close and had so many things in common. It was only as I got older, that we both realized just how many levels we connected on—it was wonderful. It was not uncommon for us to spend hours on the phone when we talked, and we talked about everything. He was one of those people who knew something about everything in the world, literally. I was constantly amazed at everything he knew. If I had a question, I knew I could get an answer, even if that meant getting a 5-page e-mail back from him. He was thorough and he was able to express his thoughts through words beautifully. He had an engineering degree, had tried his hand at real estate, and later decided to go to graduate school to earn his MBA. A few years ago, he decided that he wanted to go to law school. He graduated from law school in December. We were all there to celebrate with him and it was a wonderful occasion. He took the Bar exam in January and was waiting to here his results (in May). He had bought land in Fairhope and was looking forward to moving there in a few years, to retire.
Please pray that Charles and I will be able to find a way to Atlanta to be with the rest of our family. All the flights have been delayed in D.C. because of the snow/ice and it looks like Sunday might be the earliest we can leave. Also, please pray for our whole family. We are really having a hard time coping with andbelieving this news. It just seems surreal.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much we appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We strongly believe in the power of prayer and feel great comfort in knowing other people are saying prayers for us right now.
Love,
Rachel
Rachel Blake Fry, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
UAB Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE)
1530 3RD AVE S
Medical Towers (MT) 521
Birmingham, AL 35294-4410
Phone (205) 996-4446
Fax (205) 934-4888
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