Grandpa

Sunday morning, August 15th, my dad called me and left me a message to call him back. We had talked earlier that week, but never "finished" our conversation, so I figured he was calling to do just that. Instead, he says, "I've got some bad news. We lost Grandpa this morning." I was stunned. My grandpa has always had health problems, but usually we know when he is doing well and when he's not. I had no idea he wasn't doing well. Come to find out, Saturday night, he hadn't been feeling well and was having trouble breathing. He woke up Sunday feeling the same way, so my grandma was getting ready to take him to the hospital. Unfortunately, they never made it, and he collapsed at home. The doctors were unable to revive him.

After I hung up the phone, I walked into the other room and told Grant what had happened. I'm not normally the type of person to cry, but that day, I couldn't help it. I started thinking about the last time I saw him, and honestly, I could not remember. Once I left for college, and now especially that I live so far away, I was never very good at getting over to see my grandma and grandpa when I was at home visiting. So I felt guilty for that. And then I thought about my grandma...and how that night, she'd go to bed alone for the first time in 50+ years. I put myself in that situation, and my heart ached for her.

Over the next couple of days, arrangements were made for my grandpa's visitation and funeral, and I debated on whether I should go back or not. Flights were EXPENSIVE, I'd be going back in October anyway, I'd miss a day of work, and Grant was leaving that Friday for 3 weeks in Alaska. Despite that, I decided that I needed to be there, especially to show my support for my dad and my grandma. I'm very glad I made that decision. I flew back on Wednesday, the funeral was Thursday, and I spent time with family on Friday and Saturday before flying back to Idaho on Saturday evening.

The visitation and funeral were very nice. There were pictures of my grandpa from his childhood that I'd never seen before. He was wearing an ornery shirt (just like him!) and had a lottery ticket. He looked so peaceful lying there, but it was still surreal. I wanted to keep looking at him, but I couldn't without crying, so I had to stay back. It was very strange. I think I was just feeling so sorry that it had been so long since I'd seen him, and we'd never get to talk again.

We made our way to the cemetery for the funeral service, where Grandpa was buried with military honors. They folded up the flag and presented it to my grandma and had a 21 gun salute (which was crazy loud!). The whole flag thing brings tears to my eyes whenever I see it. My cousin Samantha interviewed my grandpa a few years back for a college project, so she read a portion of her report and interview. My grandpa had fought in the Korean War and was given a medal for his service, honoring him as a hero. However, he never saw himself as a hero. Samantha ended her "speech" by telling us that my grandpa said, "only a deceased person is a hero." It was a very sweet moment and made me appreciate my grandpa even more, to learn of him in that light.

We all made our way back to my grandma and grandpa's house to have dinner and spend time as a family. It was nice to see all of them, as I don't get to see them very often. It was a tough day for everyone, but I'm so so glad I was able to be there. I think I would have really regretted it if I had not gone. So here's to you Grandpa...I hope you're watching over all of us now. We will miss you, but we look forward to the day we'll see you again. :)