Wednesday, September 1st 2010 my dear sweet grandma passed away. She was diagnosed with cancer November of last year. It started in her colon (large intestine) and spread its way into her bone. She was my only grandma that I knew. My dad's parents died when he was only in his teens. My grandma was a sweet, kind-hearted lady who loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren very much. For journal purposes and for personal reasons, I am going to try and remember the events leading up to her viewing/funeral as best as possible. To those reading this, it's going to be a long one so just be prepared.....
Monday night, August 30th, I got a phone call from my brother saying that we needed to head up to the hospital because grandma had been in there for another cancer treatment and the doctors had told my grandpa that she may not last much longer. We were only at the hospital for about an hour or so when we needed to get back home and get Garrett to bed-it being around 10:00 p.m. I lost a lot of much needed sleep eyeballing my phone just in case my mom called to tell me "the news". Luckily, grandma had survived the night but she was in so much pain that on Tuesday they released her from the hospital and my grandpa took her to my uncle's house to "keep her as comfortable as possible". Grandpa had decided that he didn't want her to do anymore blood transfusion treatments. She had had so many! That night, I again was listening for my phone to ring....Grandma had survived another night, but her breathing was changing.
Wednesday was a bittersweet day. Alex called us at 10:30 a.m.! He was in the Detroit airport and had an hour layover before heading to D.C.! :) We talked to him for about half an hour and then said our goodbyes and headed in to see grandma. About 10 min after I walked through the door, the nurses came into the front room and told us all to come in grandma's room to say goodbye....it was hard to see her laying there. She didn't look like the grandma I always knew. About an hour or so after her passing, the mortician came to make funeral arrangements with Grandpa and then took her body away. I think that was the hardest part seeing her body leave knowing that I would never see her beautiful, smiling face again. Afterward, Garrett and I came home and I just bawled!!
Her viewing and funeral were Friday night and Saturday afternoon in Moore. Some things special about her viewing/funeral was that my mom and my aunts got to dress Grandma and my mom got to do her hair. Once we got to the funeral home for the viewing, I walked up to her casket (which was a light rose color-so pretty) and saw the grandma that I remembered! She looked so beautiful and with a slight smile on her face. Her favorite flower were roses. One was placed in her hands....
THE VIEWING...
Monday night, August 30th, I got a phone call from my brother saying that we needed to head up to the hospital because grandma had been in there for another cancer treatment and the doctors had told my grandpa that she may not last much longer. We were only at the hospital for about an hour or so when we needed to get back home and get Garrett to bed-it being around 10:00 p.m. I lost a lot of much needed sleep eyeballing my phone just in case my mom called to tell me "the news". Luckily, grandma had survived the night but she was in so much pain that on Tuesday they released her from the hospital and my grandpa took her to my uncle's house to "keep her as comfortable as possible". Grandpa had decided that he didn't want her to do anymore blood transfusion treatments. She had had so many! That night, I again was listening for my phone to ring....Grandma had survived another night, but her breathing was changing.
Wednesday was a bittersweet day. Alex called us at 10:30 a.m.! He was in the Detroit airport and had an hour layover before heading to D.C.! :) We talked to him for about half an hour and then said our goodbyes and headed in to see grandma. About 10 min after I walked through the door, the nurses came into the front room and told us all to come in grandma's room to say goodbye....it was hard to see her laying there. She didn't look like the grandma I always knew. About an hour or so after her passing, the mortician came to make funeral arrangements with Grandpa and then took her body away. I think that was the hardest part seeing her body leave knowing that I would never see her beautiful, smiling face again. Afterward, Garrett and I came home and I just bawled!!
Her viewing and funeral were Friday night and Saturday afternoon in Moore. Some things special about her viewing/funeral was that my mom and my aunts got to dress Grandma and my mom got to do her hair. Once we got to the funeral home for the viewing, I walked up to her casket (which was a light rose color-so pretty) and saw the grandma that I remembered! She looked so beautiful and with a slight smile on her face. Her favorite flower were roses. One was placed in her hands....
THE VIEWING...
Some of my family members...
My beautiful mom and her youngest brother, Ivan
This is my Grandma's sister-Thora and my mom...
My dear Grandpa...My heart aches for him!
My handsome dad and me...
And my family!
Saturday was her funeral. Grandpa had decided that he wanted all of his granddaughters to sing "I Am A Child Of God/"I Often Go Walking". Those songs will always have a different meaning to me now.
THE GRAVE SITE:
My mom and her siblings and Grandpa
My cousin Levi played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes. It was so beautiful! Grandma would have loved it.
All of the grandsons were casket bearers and the missionary grandsons were Honorary Bearers
My dad putting his Carnation on Grandma's casket. Before putting the flower on the casket, he gave it a little kiss....I just thought that was so sweet! Just a side note-My mom had told me that when she and my dad were first married, they went out to visit Grandma and Grandpa and after hugging both of them, my dad had said "I have parents again" :) There's no doubt that this brought back a lot of memories for my dad and his parents.....
Isn't her casket beautiful? She would have loved all of the flowers....
And I just had to post this picture of my parents-I thought it was sweet!
It was hard to say goodbye to Grandma but I just have to keep reminding myself that she's not suffering from the cancer anymore, she's in a much better, happier place, and she is probably getting lots of hugs and kisses from her mom (my great-grandma) and reuniting with a brother and a sister (I think) that she has never met! It's such a blessing to know that life doesn't end after death!
After the luncheon, we threw my cousin Nicki a surprise bridal shower! I couldn't be there, however, because we had a family reunion in Montana over Labor Day Weekend.
All of my aunts and girl cousins. How I hated not being there!
Oh, I have to tell this story. More for myself than for anything else and Ashley I hope you don't mind that I am sharing this: It was on the day Grandma passed away. All the way into town to see grandma, Garrett was fine. No crying, no fussing, no nothing. Just as content as could be. Cooper, Ashley's baby-8 days younger than Garrett-was asleep in her carseat, upstairs away from all the noise, away from people. This baby doesn't wake up for ANYTHING. With Garrett in my arms, Cooper upstairs asleep, and as Grandma takes her last breath, Garrett starts crying...and so does Cooper! Coincidence? I don't think so. Not that I think that they saw her spirit go, but I do believe that those little babies are so close to the veil that I know that they knew why we (family) were grieving and sad...It was just so....amazing in a sense. In another sense, eye-opening. Definatley a HUGE testimony builder for me.
After the luncheon, we threw my cousin Nicki a surprise bridal shower! I couldn't be there, however, because we had a family reunion in Montana over Labor Day Weekend.
All of my aunts and girl cousins. How I hated not being there!
Oh, I have to tell this story. More for myself than for anything else and Ashley I hope you don't mind that I am sharing this: It was on the day Grandma passed away. All the way into town to see grandma, Garrett was fine. No crying, no fussing, no nothing. Just as content as could be. Cooper, Ashley's baby-8 days younger than Garrett-was asleep in her carseat, upstairs away from all the noise, away from people. This baby doesn't wake up for ANYTHING. With Garrett in my arms, Cooper upstairs asleep, and as Grandma takes her last breath, Garrett starts crying...and so does Cooper! Coincidence? I don't think so. Not that I think that they saw her spirit go, but I do believe that those little babies are so close to the veil that I know that they knew why we (family) were grieving and sad...It was just so....amazing in a sense. In another sense, eye-opening. Definatley a HUGE testimony builder for me.
And last, but certainly not least-My dad's birthday was August 31st!! We celebrated on September 8th, which was my parents 28th year anniversary! With everything going on, we just celebrated the two together!
My dad turned 52!
My dad turned 52!
Happy birthday Dad! We love you and think you are just the best ever!!
5 comments:
Oh how I hate death. I know it's a part of the whole earthly experience but isn't it so hard? I'm glad you are doing so well with it and that you've had such testimony building experiences. P.S. You look so pretty in the pictures! =)
I think it's great that you use your blog as a journal so, I don't think you should worry if it's too long or not exciting enough. I'm just glad I'm lucky enough to read it :)
What a great post and tribute to your grandma. Times like these makes me so appreciative of our knowledge of life after death. When sad things like death happen it seems like special experiences come along with it to help us cope. It looks like it was a good funeral and celebration of her life.
Oh I am so sorry to hear about your grandma. That is such a hard thing to lose a grandparent. I am grateful for life after death though, makes it easier to know we can see them again. I am sure she was just amazing.
Your dad's an old man!!! Kent is right on his heels with his 52nd bday the last of October. Your post was nice to read. And I agree that those babies may not have "seen" mom leaving, but they were definitely tuned in to what was going on. I will always treasure those days we spent at Maurice and Debbie's.
I've been wanting to post about grandma FOREVER! Every time I sit down to write, someone needs me. It's making this avid blogger go crazy!
I liked the stories you told of Grandma. There is so much I want to say about her and the events leading up to her death but I wouldn't know where to stop. Definately a spiritual week for me. I love being surrounded by family.
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