My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away recently. She died of cancer in a nursing home. It's hard to think about it. but i would feel bad if i didn't talk about it.

She had gone in for a checkup. That's when they found the cancer. they did surgery, and they thought it had gone away. Because they had removed part of her pancreas, she ahd to take insulin. She took it often, especially when she didn't need it. it would drop her blood sugar, and she'd become weak. Several times, my grandfather would call and report zombie'like motions from her. She had to go to the ER several times. IT was scary the way she acted. I t hought it was getting kind of old after a while tough.

Yet when she went it for another checkup a long time later, they found the cancer. It had returned, and it was pissed. It was a stage four cancer, meaning it was spreading, and they couldn't stop or remove it. this time it was serious. they gave her six months tops. We all waited in fear. it was scary. But then six months passed. she was out in a nursing home, and was well taken care of.i had spent about a month spending time with Nana. she was weak. sometimes she looked dead. we all started to get tired of waiting. We thought we were prepared for when she passed away. i was watching TV when my dad's phone rang. he answered, and i heard him say "Hey dad. How you doing? She what? Oh god, dad i'm sorry. Have you told Jen (my mom)? Alright i'll give her the phone." I sat there, frozen, scared and confused.

I knew what had happened. She ha ddied, yet why now? we had just gotten home from seeing her. We didn't want to leave, but i had missed too much school. We had to go. It was an hour from her house to mine. I went upstairs. my sister had been sleeping with my mom. My dad told her to get out. When she came out of the room, she looked at me, startled. I said in a croaky voice, "She's....... gone."

Then she looked terrified. She started to cry. I leaned against the banister. then i told her to come in the room with me. I walked in just as my mom said, "Hi dad. What's wrong?...Oh..My God." then she dropped the phone and cried. She couldn't stop. And fell on the floor and wept. We went to her house the next day. We had a funeral and a wake. i served at both. we drove in a limo back home. It was really gloomy the rest of the week. it was sad. I just want to remember her well.

Here's my uncle's blog, who has a similiar article about her: http://www.rabbert.com/