We Will Miss You Grandpa!

This has been hard for me to even start to write. On February 29, 2012, my grandpa passed away. We knew it was coming but it was still so very hard. The amazing thing is, almost 8 years ago he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and they said he had 6-12 months to live. Boy did he prove them wrong! What a blessing it was for me to have so much extra time (we saw him at least twice a year up to five times a year a couple of times) with him and in that time all of my children were born and he met every single one of them.

When my uncle called on February 20th to let us know that grandpa was going downhill fast, my mom and I decided to go the next day. There were no flights out that day. At that point if we didn't know if we were going to make it to see him. When we got there he was aware we were there and reached out to hold each of our hands. He was at home in a hospital bed. His wishes were to be at home in his last days.

That night I went to my uncle's house to stay with my 16 year old cousin so she wouldn't have to stay alone. When my uncle picked us up the next morning he said we were stopping at McDonald's on the way home because Grandpa had asked for a sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin. :) Wow! It was such a turn around. He hadn't been eating at all. He was so hungry that he ate yogurt and pineapple while we were getting his McMuffin and then still ate at least half of his McMuffin. He was very with it and chatty that entire day. It was such a blessing to visit with him and spend that time with him.

That night I stayed with him most of the night. He was talkative at first but then quickly started having a lot of pain. He need pain meds and he was very agitated. He started hallucinating and then wasn't really cognizant at all but he did keep trying to get out of bed. I sat by his side a lot of that night and held his hand which seemed to calm him. I was grateful for the time I got to spend with him that night when it was quiet and the only other person there was was his night time caretaker.

Thursday Grandpa wasn't doing well. He really didn't say much and instead of drinking his water we were having to drip it into his mouth. We were hoping that he would make it until later that night when my dad and Kendall and Adrienne got here from Belgium, Utah and England, to see him. That night, when we got back, he was not doing well but he was hanging on. Dad, Kendall and Adrienne saw him and then Kendall, Adrienne and I went to stay with my cousin. When my uncle came back to get us, he said that grandpa was up, talking and eating again! We went and he was. Friday and Saturday morning we got to spend time with him visiting with him and it was great. I went home Saturday afternoon and at that point he started to let go. He wasn't talking much after I left. Slowly he let go. Mom, Dad, Kendall and Adrienne drove back up to Utah early Monday afternoon. He was holding on while all the extra people were there.

I am grateful that I had all of my grandparents until was 30 (my grandma passed away almost 2 years ago, she and grandpa were within a week of the same age when they passed away) and Grandpa for 32 years. What a blessing that has been in my life.