Dear Daughters,
The music is over. Taps has been played, the dirt has been shoveled on the casket, we have all said our goodbyes. Tears have flowed, hugs given, the scent of fragrant flowers and memories still lingering as we left the cemetery.
Six weeks ago, Grandpa said the same thing he has said numerous times during the last few years:
I’m going downhill like a rocket.
Inevitably the next days he would improve and we would continue on with our song of life. So it was no surprise when he commented about the rocket again. The only difference being that this time he didn’t improve.
Hospice came to the house and gave him military honors, Chaplain Dick presenting Grandpa with a certificate thanking him for his service in World War II. Tawnya, Jean and Dick – all from Hospice – videotaped a Life Review as I asked questions and he willingly told stories.
Grandpa’s heart was tired, it had served him faithfully for 94 years but grew steadily weaker by the day.
My memories of you four girls calling just a few hours before Grandpa died, will forever be in my heart. We had planned for your singing at 8:30 Monday evening, but I didn’t think he would live that long. Fifteen minutes later you were on the phone, singing:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see.
How beautiful hearing the melody along with tears and wavering voices for several more verses. And then, as Grandma would always have it, we just had to modulate to the next step higher. Whenever Grandma would play hymns on the piano she could never stay in the same key – we always had to go higher and with more intensity.
The last verse was the final anthem he heard in his life here on earth:
When we’ve been there 10,000 years
Bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Then when we first began….
Grandpa had not spoken or opened his eyes for over 12 hours, but when he heard your voices his eyes fluttered open momentarily. He was breathing slowly but steadily. Two hours later he was gone.
The celebration of life at church was beautiful:
Amazing Grace
I Can Only Imagine…
Wind Beneath My Wings
I’ll Fly Away
The Dutch song Lang Zal se Leven
And finally,
The Hallelujah Chorus
Every night when Dad and I would come home after a day away, Grandpa would say
I’m glad you’re home Shari.
We would leave a few days a week, leaving Grandpa in the care of friends and helpers. And every time we would come home his remark was always the same:
Shari, I’m glad you’re home.
And now, after five and a half years of Grandpa saying that to me, I can say to him:
I’m glad you’re home, Dad.
Love, Mom
Recent Comments