As you all probably know by now, my grandpa passed away tonight. He has had multiple myeloma cancer for the last 2 1/2 years and had really taken a turn for the worse within the last week or two. It was so weird how fast he was changing. I remember the first day I went to see him after they brought in a hospital bed. He was sitting up, eating and talking. The next time I went to see him, which was like 2 or 3 days later, he wasn't able to feed himself. And then there was today but I'm not going to get in to that. I woke up this morning planning to spend a good portion of my day in Nappanee with my family. I knew the end was near but I had no idea how close it really was. My aunts and I, along with my grandma, were sitting in the living room with my grandpa, looking through a bunch of pictures when all of a sudden my grandpa started to open his eyes (he had been unresponsive since yesterday). Talking about it later tonight, we all came to the agreement that he did that because a. he wanted to get our attention and b. he wanted to make sure we were all around him. Those last few minutes with him are something that I'll never forget.
What amazes me the most in all of this is how grateful my family was. My dad, grandma and aunts kept saying "God is so good". See, through all of this, my grandpa hasn't had any pain. Which is unbelievable given the type of cancer he had. But to see the rest of my family giving thanks shortly after their father/husband had passed away completely humbled me. God really IS good. As much as I'm going to miss my grandpa and his quiet whit (he had some really good one-liners over the years), I'm SO thankful that the Lord spared him pain.
It still feels like a really bad dream that I'm gonna wake up from and I'm sure it'll feel like that for a while. I'm just thankful that I was able to be with him in his final hours.
Thank you to all my friends, family, Carl's rugby team, and other loved ones who have extended condolences to me and my family. You have no idea how much that means and how comforting it is to know we are supported.
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." -- John 11:25
Love ya. I'm glad he wasn't in any pain, & how fortunate he was to have all of his loved ones around him....& how you were as well to have been there w/him in his last moments. Everyone who's lost a loved one unexpectedly, & didn't have the privelege to be there, knows the guilt & forever wonders what their loved one was feeling & thinking when they passed.
ReplyDeleteHe was blessed to have the family he had, just as you are. Let us know if you need anything!
~Alaina & Josh