Brandy Byrd tells this about her husband Randy. “We were saving up for M-Braves season tickets this year because we were optimistic that Randy would be able to go. He knew every player, and he particularly liked Kyle Wright. When we were having a bad night on the mound, Randy would turn to me and say ‘they need to put Kyle in.’ I’d sometimes get a text at work from him that would say ‘Kyle’s pitching tonight, let’s go to the game!’. His excitement and enthusiasm were a part of his personality and character. Everybody loved that.’”
Three weeks before Randy died, he was moved to Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Brandy continues, “I knew that would be our last home together, and that’s what HospiceMinistries did – they loved on us and treated us like family. I didn’t want him to be scared, and they worked with me to make him happy and comfortable in those last days. Everyone knew to follow the smell of chocolate if they were looking for Randy’s room because there was never a shortage of Twix bars on his bed. Hospice Ministries believes that every moment counts, and when they found out about his love for the Braves and baseball, the nurses and social workers coordinated some very special moments for him. During his stay, the M-Braves staff came to visit and brought us hats and shirts and the starting line-up for the season. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”
In Randy’s last days while at HospiceMinistries, he received a very special phone call from Kyle Wright, a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves in the Major League. Knowing that Randy was his biggest fan, Kyle called to tell him he’d be starting in the Sunday night game and asked him to watch him if he could. He assured him he would be thinking about him. Brandy says that the smile on his face when she told him that Kyle Wright was on the phone for him was priceless. In one of his most difficult days on earth, he was able to smile. One of the HospiceMinistries team members was able to capture the phone call on video at Brandy’s request.
Although Randy did not want to physically leave Brandy, he was spiritually ready to move from this life to the next. Brandy knew that she would be with him again one day. She was able to stay with him and spend quality time with him at Hospice Ministries. She was also able to honor a request that Randy had made several years earlier. “He asked me to play the song ‘Gone’ by Montgomery Gentry at his funeral. He wanted people’s last memory of him to be that he was fun and funny and had a great sense of humor. That’s how he’ll be remembered.”
Brandy tells her story about Randy because she knows that everyone at some point is going to experience the death of a loved one. She specifically requested that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland to honor Randy’s life. “I believe that everyone deserves quality hospice care. The donations that came in for Randy will allow other families to be able to have the same kind of care that we had. It’s a special place. No one wants to think about having to plan for hospice, but it’s something many people will face in their lives.”