The restaurant didn't steal my last moments #RestaurantLife #FamilyOverBusiness #FreedomToLead

20 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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0:59

A short diarized excerpt from a YouTube video (by Donald Burns) where two restaurant owners discuss balancing family responsibilities and running a restaurant. SPEAKER A describes stepping away from the business to care for his terminally ill father—spending roughly two months with him, including one month full-time and providing 24/7 care in the final weeks—and later helping his mother; he credits his team for managing the restaurant. SPEAKER B notes that most restaurant owners could not similarly step away, highlighting tensions between family obligations and the demands of restaurant ownership.

Questions this video answers

About two months ("pretty much two months").

One month ("I was with him full time for a month").

24-hour care for the last three or four weeks ("he needed 24 hour care the last three or four weeks").

Yes — he said he was with him until he took his last breath ("I was with him until he took his last breath").

Chapters

So my mom and dad are silent owners of the restaurant. And so, you know, this restaurant meant a lot to my dad as well.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, he was so sick at the end that he got to. I mean, he didn't want to hear about the restaurant. He just was trying to process what was happening and he needed 24 hour care the last three or four weeks. And I was able to go with my mom and you know, of course I had my computer and stuff with me if something came up. But really the team took care of everything and I got to spend with my dad that last pretty much two months. But I was with him full time for a month. And I'll never regret I was with him 24 7. I was with him until he took his last breath. And then I was with my mom for quite some time afterwards helping her get everything done. And it was honestly, it was a godsent to be able to walk away and do that.
Yeah. And most restaurant owners couldn't do that.
No.
Yeah, I remember like when my father passed away, I had my first restaurant open and my father passed away. I couldn't go to the funeral. Yeah, I was, I was. I mean, basically, I hate to say I was chained to the restaurant. I couldn't even go to my father's funeral because I had everything like you guys, I had everything invested in the restaurant, all my savings, all my everything. And I just couldn't walk away. And it took a year before I finally had a. I mean, I broke down like a year later, just had a, just meltdown in the office at the restaurant one day. It just finally all caught up to me. Yeah, I just like, I just broke down and just fell to my knees in the office and just start crying, like, just bawling. It was just a man. I'm so happy that you could, you could get that opportunity that's really. That means the world to me as a coach, is that you had that opportunity to do that, which is really, really awesome.