My grandpa Konrath, my dad's step dad, has been ill for a very long time. Probably longer than I've realized. He always seemed like he wasn't going to make it through the next year but somehow he held on all this time. When my grandma, his wife, passed away very suddenly last October, I got even more worried about him. He didn't want to go into assisted living, but he also had a huge house all to himself that he didn't know what to do with. He was so used to his routine with my grandma that I waited until the day he seemed lost.
That day never came.
My grandpa is a beautiful, playful, intelligent man full of personality and life. He has been hard of hearing and wore a hearing aid most of the time I've been alive, yet he never got upset if he couldn't hear someone and when he could, he was often laughing and joking with anyone who would listen. I'm sad to say that while I made these observations, I never got to know him very well. While he loved to talk it was usually about news, politics, and stocks... three things I generally don't have much interest in. But I loved the way he talked and it was always fun hearing him laugh.
My grandpa, only a month after his 91st birthday, passed away this evening. He had been in the hospital for over a week treating a bronchitis that wouldn't go away. It obviously took its toll on him as he decided earlier this week that he was tired of fighting. He was tired of medicine. He was just plain tired. And I can't blame him. Wednesday my dad went to visit with him at the hospital and met with Hospice who granted his wish to be sent home. He wasn't hooked up to machines and medicines in a stuffy hospital room all alone, and luckily he had people in the house with him and my dad had just left his house and was able to turn back. I am extremely grateful that he didn't have to suffer long and that he went peacefully.
Rest in peace, dear Grandpa. You lived a long, wonderful life filed with travel, love, and laughter and I am a better person for having known you.
Wedding photo courtesy of Stout Photography
1 comment:
I'm sorry to hear that, Meghan. But, at least he's with his wife now! And it's good to hear he went peacefully and in little pain.
My thoughts are with you and your fam!!!
Post a Comment