In Loving Memory

We are on the other side of a very rough week for our family.  Ron's dad, Joel passed away on Friday.  It was a long road for Joel and our family and we are glad that he is no longer in pain. Last week we knew that things were coming to an end, and on Friday, I asked Ron to meet me at his dad's for lunch. I'm so glad that it worked out, as it was the last time we saw him alive. Unfortunately Jackson was not with us, he was at school.

We entered the room with Addie and Ron raised his voice to call to his dad.  Joel opened his eyes in response but could do no more than that. His breathing was very labored and his was mainly unresponsive. We said our goodbyes and Addie sat next to him on his bed and told her grandpa that she loved him. I just knew this was the last time I would see him. Ron and I shed some tears as we said goodbye in our own ways.  We left his room at about 12:45 and made our way nextdoor to Subway for lunch.

At 3:30 p.m. Ron got the call that his father had just passed away and we all made our way back to the nursing home to say a final goodbye before the coroner picked up his body.  When we got there we learned that Uncle Glen was with Joel when he died and while Glen would have rather not been there right at the time, we were all so relieved to know that he did not die all alone.  He died knowing that those that loved him had said their goodbyes and he could go on.

I will miss the connection that I shared with Joel, the friendly but relentless banter and seeing the joy in his eyes when my kids were around.  I will continue to work to share my memories of Joel with my children so that they have stories they can share about Grandpa Joel.