I love this dear lady with all my heart. I have been so blessed to live near to her and Grandpa these past 18 years. They are such amazing examples to all of us. They are selfless and serve others all the time. It has been so lonely and hard for Grandma to be widowed these past 15 months.
Grandma started having more serious health problems in the Fall and by Thanksgiving, she could barely get in and out of her house. Her legs were so swollen and leaking all the time. It was painful for her to be up on her feet, but that didn't keep her down. She also had frequent back pain and she had to get shots in her back every few months. Grandma was a busy lady. She rarely sat down unless family came by and then she would give them her undivided attention and blunt advice.
In early December, Grandma had a turn for the worst and so I called Mom and told her she needed to come up to Utah immediately. Mom flew into Salt Lake on Monday evening. As they came into Wellsville and pulled up at her home, they went right into the house to get grandma and take her to the hospital. Grandma was starting to have these pains in her legs. They checked her into the same emergency room where Grandma passed away. It was surreal and saddening.
By evening, she was admitted into the hospital for the excruciating pain in her legs and lower back. Once they got her meds regulated, she seemed to be fine. But if the meds wore off, she would yell in pain and cry out. Night after night, we would go up to see her and visit her. On Wednesday night, I took my boys up to see her. Everyone was up there. Grandma seemed to be happy and was eating all sorts of food. She was laughing and joking with everyone and she seemed to be herself.
As we got ready to leave, I sent the boys in one last time to say good night to her. This was the last time they got to see her alive. Grandma started having bad pains as I left the hospital. She kept crying out about how bad it hurt. She was so tough and so amazing. I said gave her a hug, told her I loved her and then said good night. The next day Grandma was mostly incoherent and just slept. Her last wish was to go back home. On Thursday afternoon, they took her home by ambulance. Some of my sisters and cousins were there with her that night. She woke back up and carried on some conversations with them.
On Friday morning, I went over to Grandma's to meet Jacqui so she could say goodbye to Grandma. We had been there for a couple of hours eating and visiting quietly with one another. We were sitting around Grandma's bed when all of a sudden, Clinton noticed that Grandma had stopped breathing. She peacefully slipped off to heaven to be with Grandpa. We were left there to cry and mourn the loss of this most amazing lady who had touched all of our lives tremendously.
We called all the family and everyone dropped what they were doing and came up to the house to say good bye to Grandma. It was sobering and sad, but I am grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation. I know where they are and I know I will see them again someday.
The neighbor across the field took this picture of Grandma's house on the day she died. It looked like this most Sunday's and most holidays, but this would be the last day that it would ever look like this again.
The following Friday night, we had Grandma's viewing. While Mom was in town, she wasn't feeling well and he stomach was giving her a lot of problems. She ended up having to leave the viewing 15 minutes after it started. She was throwing up and in a lot of pain. Jocelynn and I ended up taking Mom to the ER. They did some tests on her and decided that she had some sort of blockage in her intestines. It turns out that she had to miss her Mom's funeral because the doctors had to go inside her to remove the blockage. This happened the morning of her funeral. It nearly broke my heart to watch this, but we are grateful that she is here with us and doing fine.
Grandma's funeral was nothing less than perfect and there were so many beautiful words and stories and heartfelt emotions shared that day. Those who spoke did a wonderful job and gave a wonderful tribute to Grandma and the life she lived and the legacy that she and Grandpa left behind. I will be forever blessed to have rubbed shoulders with them. I will miss her dearly and words will never describe the love I have for her and Grandpa.
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