It’s 9PM on Sunday eve…I’m facing the usual grueling Monday, checking email, but the clothes for tommorrow are all layed out, I’m headed to bed early and I’ll get enough sleep that tommorow should speed by.
Thats the usual Sunday anyway, tonight…somethings missing. About 9:00 Am Central Time a great man took his final breath and left this world to that place on the other side in the afterlife. He leaves behind 2 sons, 10 grandchildren, and 14 great grand children. To my knowledge he had no enemies…he was a man of his word, a man of very few words, in fact getting him to speak more than a few sentences required his trust…
I’ll never forget my great grandfather, he was a man that gave me my work ethic, taught me how important doing my best is, and always supported me in everything I did. There was never a conversation I had with him that he didn’t remember and there was never a major event in my life that he forgot to be a part of or congratulate me on. He was forced to retire a few years ago at the age of 75 when he had a stroke. He was angry at the doctor because he couldn’t go back to work, and until his last day he refused to depend on anyone to take care of him. Up to his last day he lived alone and relied on himself, defying the doctor not allowing him to drive by walking to the grocery store to do his shopping. It was a personal pride with him, but it was the stuff that I am made of, the fiery passion and independence that I learned from my great grandad’s example.
I admire him more than anything, he and my great grandmother were divorced over 30 years ago, but they never remarried because they loved one another, they just couldn’t live in the same house and coexist peacefully. For all that time, he has continued to provide her with a house, paid all her bills, and provided her with a car… She doesn’t yet know that he is no longer with us, she is also ill and my grandfather doesn’t want to upset her just yet with the news.
I am struggling to understand why I am not in mourning, but I know it is because he went peacefully. I know that life has its end, and in all things living that end has its day. I said my goodbyes to my Papa verbally, he was as alive mentally as he ever was, and even up to the point where he lost conciousness he was 100% intact mentally. It made it harder, to watch him slowly get weaker when all the time his mind was as sharp as ever, but even he knew that his day had come…and when I think about that, I realize that even in his last breath, in his mind he knew he had been dealt a fair hand from the deck.
Papa lived his life clean, and he dealt with everyone on a level playing field. He was always one of the most brilliant men I ever knew and he had a quiet confidence about him that has always given me strength. I’ll miss you Papa, take care…and Godspeed on your journey.
See ya again when I get there…
-SS 
