My grandmother passed away today
I got a call on Wed. morning that my grandmother's cancer was rampant through her stomach and liver and that she was in the hospital. They were waiting for me to come home and then they would remove her breathing tube. "Unresponsive" was the description my Mom told me.
I got in at 5:30 AM, took my bags to my Mom's and laid down for an hour or so while my Mom and stepfather fed my grandfather and prepped to take him over to the hospital (he uses a walker and is a touch out of it, but he knows what's going on). We get to the hospital and my grandmother is awake and trying to talk. The doctor explained to her the situation and how there was nothing that could be done, she was ok with that and wanted the breathing tubes out, knowing what that meant. I got to tell her how much I loved her and how it was ok if she was in pain and needed to "go". We were safe, Papa was taken care of and most of all, she was safe.
She is the toughest woman I've ever met as she lasted three days past anyone's exceptions and passed away this morning. Same day as the Pope. If you're going to make the transition into the afterlife, I can't think of a better companion than the pontiff. Although I'll be willing to bet that if she was behind him in the line to see St. Peter, she was complaining that she couldn't see past this guy's hat.
I was very close to my grandparents and right now, I worry for my grandfather. They were together for 65 years. It staggers me to consider that. Two of my lifetimes.
The greatest gift I got in all of this was seeing my grandfather rise from his wheelchair because "I wanna kiss her" (I lost it at this moment), hold her hand, make sure she was covered and warm. It was love. True love. The sweetest and most pure emotion I've ever been blessed enough to witness. Beautiful, heartbreaking and hopefull.
I know my grandmother is safe and hopefully has finally found some peace. I know she'll be with me as I make my own journeys in life, maybe finding someone I can look at the way my grandfather looked at her as she lay in bed.
Most of all, I have seen what real love is and it thrills me to know that, yes Virginia, like Santa Claus, it does exist.
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