While we were up north for Uncle Jay's funeral, Grandpa Gene
had taken a turn for the worse. Uncle Jay passed away on a Wed and
they told Grandpa on Thurs, not knowing what he all processed.
Alzheimer's is a horrible disease! He never really said anything and Kirstin
had been with him on Wed and he was joking with her and still able
to get up and move around. After receiving the news he started to
go downhill and Grandma had just put him on hospice for some
extra help with dressing and meal times. On Saturday he really took
a turn and didn't want to eat and by Sunday when we arrived he was
not doing well. I knew in my heart it would be the last time I saw him alive.
He was asleep but could not get comfortable and was having a lot of pain.
He slept the entire time we were there, Kirst and I had tried feeding him
some soup for dinner but that didn't go so well. I had to physically get
behind him and hold him up, he was dead weight. He only had a few sips,
we didn't want him to aspirate because he was having trouble breathing.
The hospice nurse came around 8pm and said it would be hours to days,
I could not believe what I was hearing. We knew he'd be in a better place
but the reality was sinking in and it hurt! He was taken off all medication
except for morphine and another to help him relax.
My mom and I decided to stay the night at the care center with him so
Grandma could go home and get some rest. They had just brought in the
hospital bed which he fell out of the night before so they had put his queen
size mattress on the floor. My mom was in the hospital bed and I cuddled with
Gramps on the queen size bed, not getting any sleep that night. April showed
up around 1am so it was a party in Gramps room!!!
Looking back, everything seemed to fall into place. My mom, her brothers
and Grandma had met together Sunday night to discuss funeral ideas...
not knowing they would need to use them in a week!
Monday morning arrived and Gramps was still with us. DeLaun and
Sharley came fairly early to visit. The hospice CNA came to see him at
7 and she couldn't believe the difference from Saturday. She was really sweet!
The both of us changed his shirt and put him in his clean orange polo.
We left and went to the funeral while Grandma stayed with Grandpa.
We headed back over after the funeral, Kirst and I didn't go to the
cemetery because we wanted to get back. Physical therapy had come
and put him in his hospital bed and put the queen bed against the wall.
He was not sounding too good and the thought of leaving was killing
all of us. Do we stay? Do we go, knowing we'd be back up soon?
I was sitting by Grandpa and my phone rang and the kids were calling
me after school. I was having a hard time with my kids not being there
but I wouldn't want them to see Grandpa in this state. I want them to remember
him as the fun, loving, teasing Grandpa they knew. But I told them I would
hold the phone up to his ear and they could tell them they loved him.
So both Brooklin and Mason told Grandpa they loved him one last time!!!
We also called Marianne and let her talk to him not knowing if she
would make it down before he passed away.
Sunday and Monday a lot of the extended family had come to visit and
it was so fun to hear all the nieces and nephews tell stories about Grandpa.
(Hud, Larry, Troy, Chet, Randy, Sherie, Ronnie, Cody)
We had a family prayer with Kylee, Kirstin, Sharley, Mom, Grandma, DeLaun
April, myself and Grandma given by Bart. It was perfect and I felt at
peace knowing we were going to be driving home later and
knowing I would have to tell Grandpa good bye.
We left around 6pm and that was probably the hardest thing
I had to do. I was a mess and so emotional!
My dad was driving and I fell asleep in the back seat, I was so
exhausted physically and emotionally.
I woke up and was trying to get my bearings of where we were
and visiting with my parents. I had just got a text from Coach Creer with
a poem called Crossing Over sent at 9:37pm. I was bawling just reading
it and then we got a call from Kirstin around 9:45 and he had passed
around 9:37... Kirstin was the only one with him and it was a blessing.
She had created this special little bond with him since moving north
and it was just fitting that she was with him. She said that everyone had left
around 8 and Cody and Jessica came to visit around 8:30.
They were visiting and Cody was telling about how he felt and
what to maybe expect since he had just been there with his dad.
After they left, Kirst started to read from a book Grandpa had
told of a few experiences "Win If You Will." She was reading about
a plane flight he was on and the pilot said they shouldn't be in the
air for as long as they had been and Grandpa said to just go higher...
That's when his breathing got worse, he opened his eyes which he hadn't
done all weekend and then he was gone.
She had called the nurses so they could clean him up and then called
Grandma which she had just got done saying a prayer to let him go.
April and Kylee were in the parking lot so they came in and DeLaun
and Bart came back over.
A few days later, Cody had come over to visit with Grandma and Kirstin
(she was Grandma's brain and did so much to help pull the funeral of )
He had shared his feelings of having his dad with him when he went to
visit Grandpa Gene. He had had this feeling with him since his dad passed,
through the funeral and even after leaving the care center. When he got the
call that Grandpa had passed, he said the feeling totally left him.
You can't help but believe Uncle Jay was there to take Grandpa home with him.
Grandpa was the eldest of the 4 siblings and he had to make sure everyone
was home safe before he could return! Such an awesome story to remember.
I also can't help but think of the sweet reunion that took place up in heaven that
night with so many loved ones. I'm sure his parents, Uncle Don and Jay, Aunt
Colleen, his grandson Rex and his first sweetheart Dolores. The thought of
those sweet reunions almost help ease the heartache we are having down here.
I know he is out of pain and able to have a clear mind again. I know I will see
him again and knowing that I will have an angel up above is a wonderful feeling!
I will miss Grandpa so much and there hasn't been a day I don't think about him.
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