I'm Going To Miss My Papa

We lost my grandpa yesterday. He passed away at approximately 2:00 PM on July 28, 2011.

We knew things were looking sketchy at best yesterday afternoon and decided to call the family to be there with him. My grandma had been sitting in his room with him for a while and came out to the waiting area for a little breather and a drink. We were all sitting around the table right outside his door having a good laugh and my mom had a strange feeling, walked into his room and found that he had finally let go. I'm surprised it happened that quickly though because while I was holding his hand earlier, I noticed how strongly I could feel his pulse in his wrist. That man had a very strong and loving heart. (That's not the greatest pic, but it's the only one I can find quickly.)

I said I had a feeling he was going to wait until we'd all left him alone. He did this on his terms. He didn't want to die in front of any of us. He could hear that we were all together, laughing and enjoying each others' company and decided he was finally ready to let go. He was surrounded by his family the last two weeks and knows how much we all love him and each other and decided he felt comfortable leaving us to take care of each other.

I'm going to miss him so incredibly much, but I'm so comforted by the fact that he's no longer fighting that god damn disease. He's finally at peace. I'm thankful he was able to recover enough and live this long after the initial diagnosis 6 years ago, but he fought everyday to live his life. I imagine after fighting that long, you'd get tired of it, but he never complained, once. He deserves some peace now.

We're going to have a celebration of his life on August 7th in the evening at the Old Mill Golf Club if anyone is interesting in coming. I'm sure I'll be back with more about my Papa in the next week or so. And thanks for all the kind words from all my bloggy friends. It means so much to me!