My Grandad died tonight in his sleep. He's been in hospice care for over a month now, so we all knew it was coming, sooner or later. But it's still crushingly sad. But also happy that he was at peace when he died and now is really at peace and not burdened anymore by a body he couldn't really use. And I'm happy that my Mom was there with him for the end. Glad for him and especially glad for her that she was just upstairs and could come down right away instead of getting a call at home later, after he was gone. And I'm glad for the whole family that she was there, our witness, his guide, from this life into the next.
I'm so glad that I and all my brothers were able to go to Iowa earlier this month. That we all got to spend quality time together with Grandad before the end. One day, we took him out to a park for a picnic together with all six of us, plus Shadow the dog. We laughed together and Grandad laughed with us and even though it was hard to tell how much he really heard what we said or if he got the jokes, he laughed. He always loved to laugh and people around him laughing was reason enough to laugh, especially on a nice day in the park. We went on a walk around the park, taking turns pushing him in his wheechair. It was warm, but not too hot. We laughed some more and all enjoyed each others company. I'm so glad we all went back then, instead of waiting until now.
I spent some time with him a couple days before our picnic. It was hard to tell how much he understood of what I said. But I talked about how we were all going to go on a picnic together and I was looking forward to it. And I told him it reminded me of photo that I have of him and of my Mamaw, Mary. I told him how they looked so happy together and looked like they were so enjoying the peace of the place and just being together. He was silent for a moment and then didn't quite look at me but said "That's so nice. Thank you." And I wanted to think he remembered her and his happiness with her. And that it made him a little happier at the memory. And I hope now wherever they are, they're finally together again, having picnics and remembering us with love.








