Losing our Last PopPop

The last week has been really hard.

I haven’t talked about it on the blog, because I didn’t really have the words yet, but I posted a little on my facebook and Instagram pages.

Thank you to my sisters and brother for ongoing help and support. Thank you to my husband for taking care of everything at home. Thank you to my parents, for trusting us to take care of everything for you in your absence. Thank you to the nurses, doctors and all the staff at the hospital and hospice center. And thank you to my grandfather for everything. I will be absent off social media for a little while because I’ll be right here.

A photo posted by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Jan 30, 2017 at 7:51am PST

My grandfather has been ill on and off since my grandmother passed away almost five years ago (Goodbye Nana). He was 93 years old, so some illness is to expected. However, he was still a very independent person and lived on his own. My mom took the lead on getting him to his millions of doctor’s appointments and my uncle helped out when he was in town.

A couple weeks ago, my parents went on a super exciting and much deserved two week cruise. While they were gone, my grandfather took a turn for the worst.

To be honest, the only good thing about the last week has been how myself, my brother and my two sisters all activated like some sort of Power Rangers team of grandpa care. We made a schedule and made sure that somebody was able to visit him at the hospital. When he was able, we helped move him into a hospice facility. We kept my parents updated by phone and text until they were able to hop on a plane when their cruise ship docked in Barbados. My brother picked them up at the airport late that  night and brought them to see PopPop at the hospice.

The next afternoon, my grandfather passed away with my mother holding his hand.

I had gotten the call and sped up the road as quickly as possible, but got there too late. I don’t know what I thought I was going to do, but when I found out that I missed him I burst into tears in the hallway of the hospice facility while my dad comforted me.

Over the weekend we had his viewings, his funeral and his burial. He was a veteran of World War II and had military funeral honors with the folding and presenting of the American flag and the playing of Taps by a military bugler. It was moving and it was exactly what he would have wanted.

He was our last grandparent and we are all really going to miss him.