My Grandfather

My grandfather passed away tonight between 6:30pm and 6:45pm. He was 85.

It's not unexpected. He fell and broke his hip a couple weeks ago. Just this week, they discovered he had a staph infection and pneumonia. He also had Parkinson's so there was little they could do for him.

Anyway, an interesting thing happened today. All week, the hospice workers having been telling my family they should tell grandpa it was okay to let go. The dying sometimes need permission. But my family needed some time to prepare itself first. Today my grandmother finally told grandpa it was okay to die, and within a few hours, he was gone.

It is because of him that I enjoy humor that is a little on the irreverent side. He used to say the most shocking things at the most inappropriate moments, but they always made me laugh. My aunt Nikki was telling me tonight about the time that grandma's sister called to say her third husband had died, and grandpa said "Well Goddamn, she's killed another one!"

I'll miss him dearly, but I'm so glad he's not suffering any more.