Grandpa Great

Grandpa-Great, Kyle, Claire and Gramine. Easter 2008

I, for one, am so glad February is over. It was rough. As I wrote previously we lost my grandma on Thursday. We spent Friday being pretty sad, and then on Saturday we decided to paint our bedroom to get our minds off of it. Halfway through our painting we got word that Taylor's grandpa was doing poorly and the out-of-state family was flying in to say goodbye. When we got the news about Grandpa we couldn't believe it. Having just lost my grandma two days previous we felt a little overwhelmed with grief.

There was a lot of debate as to whether to go down that day, but Kyle was just barely getting over his fever, so we decided to wait and leave early Sunday morning. Taylor and the kids actually spent Wednesday afternoon with his grandparents while I sat with my grandma in the hospital, so Taylor felt that even if he didn't get to see him before he went that he had had that afternoon a couple days before to say goodbye.

We got to the hospital in Provo just after he fell asleep for the last time. It was like deja vu to walk into his room. He looked much the same as Grandma while she was in the hospital with white hair and body that was half the size it once was. My kids were great and said goodbye to him as he slept. Claire did a repeat performance of Be Still My Soul. It seemed very appropriate that Grandpa passed on a Sunday. He was a spiritual giant and held many important positions. Shortly after we got there the LDS church brought in the Sacrament. They blessed it and gave it to everyone in the room. Gramine held the sacrament to Grandpa's lips. They also shared a scripture (which one was it?).

A little after noon we went to lunch (does this sound familiar?). The cafeteria was only  a few doors down from Grandpa. When Grandma was dying they told us that the death often happens when the family goes to lunch. And so it was that as soon as we had our food on trays we got word that he was failing. We put our food on a table and rushed to his room. His vitals were down and his breathing was practically non-existant. We sang Our Savior's Love (and by the way, it was by far the worst I've ever heard that musically gifted bunch sing---I say that with love---it was impressive that words were able to be said at all) and he passed away while we sang. As we were singing the words rang so true:

Our Savior’s love
Shines like the sun with perfect light,
As from above
It breaks thru clouds of strife.
Lighting our way,
It leads us back into his sight,
Where we may stay
To share eternal life.

It was the perfect hymn and a perfect moment. Though the grief we feel at his loss is tremendous, we have the comfort of a life well-lived. I'm sure he received an amazing welcome to Heaven---surrounded by his prophet-friends and loved ones and probably quite a bit of applause :)

I have to note that the staff at Utah Valley was incredible. We were there with our kids for about two hours before he passed and the nurses went far beyond what was necessary and helped watch our kids so we could be with Grandpa. They brought in crayons and printed off coloring pages and even took them for a long walk during the final moments.

You may think I'm weird to surround my kids with death lately, to not shelter and protect them, but I'm glad Claire was there---and I don't know that Kyle really understood what was going on. Claire really loved her grandparents, and she really understands what happened and that they are with our Heavenly Father now. She sang to Grandpa and gave him hugs before and after he passed. I was so proud of her for being so great about it and so understanding (and honestly I think she's very fascinated by it all). And I have to say that it was helpful that our cat died last year.

The viewing for my grandma is on Thursday evening, and her funeral will be Friday at 11. We'll go from the funeral to Grandpa's viewing, and his funeral is Saturday at 2:00.

A short update on Kyle: I took him back to the doctor yesterday. He said his cheeks and ears hurt. They did a rapid RSV test and it was negative, but they sent the sample to be further evaluated for other infections. They had to suction out his nose. It was awful; it took three of us to hold him down. He does have an ear infection and a nasty sinus infection, so he's on antibiotics. She didn't feel that he was contagious (and hadn't been in the hospital, or we wouldn't have taken him.) She didn't like how his lungs sounded, I guess he was wheezing, so she had him do a breathing treatment in-office and we got an inhaler for home. He did a weird freezing cold and shivering then super hot thing after his bath today (probably I shouldn't have left him in there for over an hour), but he's running around now. Guess we'll see.

**Edited to say that the doctor called a while after I posted this and his lab test for RSV ended up being positive. I'm instructed to take his temperature in the morning and then we'll discuss chest x-rays in the morning. Lovely.