This has taken me a while to write all this out. This is more for me to rehash things and take it in. Thank you for listening... : )
It has been almost 3 weeks since my grandpa passed away, and a little over a week since he was buried. For a while it really felt like all our lives were on hold while he was on hospice. Just waiting. It went a little like this...
On Tuesday, July 13th we (Mom, Adah, Jon, and myself) went to see my grandparents for lunch. When we got there things with my grandpa were different, not bad, but different. He was really weepy, and was having a hard time communicating, and eating. That's not entirely unusual considering he was on dialysis twice a week, and that was very tiring to him. So we just had a fairly normal day visiting.
By the weekend he was in the hospital and was having a very hard time speaking, and doing much of anything. He would sleep most of the day, wake up briefly, and know who you were, and try his hardest to tell you he loved you, but still drift in and out. The doctor was pretty confident that his body was shutting down. On Saturday, the 17th, they decided it was time to have hospice brought in. Being that his kidney function was only at about 6% at this point, he wouldn't be on hospice long.
On Monday, the 19th he was brought home, and between all of us that was there when he was home, there was an excitement that I cant explain. Yes, we knew he was going to die, but he was at home surrounded by the family he loved. It was a treasure.
I went home Monday night and my Mom stayed to care for him. Tuesday Jon and I didn't make it out because of a jr. high event that Jon and Adam had to lead, but nothing had really changed, so we felt confident going.
Wednesday, I went with the intention of spending 1 maybe 2 nights. When we got there, my Dad had warned me that the atmosphere was very somber because he had really woken up at all. We got there around 6pm, and around 7 he really woke up for about 2 hours. He would try to smile, and make gestures that he would always do when we were kids. While Adah was in the room talking to him, he looked at her and brought two fists up like a boxer, and smiled at her really big. That was the most memorable thing he did while he was at home because for a brief moment, he snapped into himself, with his playful personality. He went to sleep around 9 as did the rest of us, and he never really woke up after that. He went into a coma like state.
Like I said, I was planning on staying there 2 nights tops, but as the time went by, we knew he would be leaving us soon, so 2 nights turned into 5. Friday is when his breaths because really labored.
We all thought that he was going to pass Saturday July 24, we were all there and ate his favorite thing for dinner. In N out. The whole experience a process that we wanted to glorify the Lord, and its funny how the enemy really doesn't want to see that happen. I won't go into detail, but a family member (not direct) was really being used by the enemy. It was really hard but our focus was on serving Papa until he was taken home.
Sunday morning Jon and Adam went to work, and we all had a pleasant morning. My grandparents neighbors (who have been real true neighbors with their hospitality) came over, and we all listened to Pastor Greg's message. It was July 25, and for those of you who don't know, July 24, 2008 was the day his son Christopher went to heaven, so that was really on his mind. His message really touched on dying and heaven. Papa could hear it because they were in the room listening to it. Then the message was over and Revive played Welcome to Eternity. A few minutes later he took his last breath. It was so peaceful.
It was really a very hard almost week, and I am so glad I was there. No regrets!
"He passed liked he lived, very quietly." -Peggy Colley (my grandma)
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