The Last Grandparent
OK, so - I didn't make it for the 4th. Oh well.
On this past Tuesday, my last grandparent, my grandmother on my mother's side, passed-away; she was 96. Though she had some kind of fall the night before, she did not appear to sustain injury. The staff at the "home" (more like an apartment complex) helped her back up and back into bed and checked-in on her, from time-to-time, throughout the night. But in the early morning, they found that she had gone - peacefully, as far as anyone could tell.
I never knew my grandfather on my father's side, as he died when my father was 13. But his story lives-on because he did, on the day of his death, an incredibly stupid thing. The story is that he had sold a motorcycle and was delivering it to the new owner, just few blocks away - he was riding without a helmet when a car hit him, knocking him off the motorcycle and hitting his head on the ground. From what I've been told, it was a low-speed incident and had he been wearing a helmet.... It is a constant reminder to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, no matter how "short" the ride or how "slow" you go - one that my father (and me, for that matter) never forgot; when he rode, he ALWAYS wore a helmet.
My grandfather on my mother's side was a war vet; he fought in Korea. I don't recall which branch of the military he fought in, though; I mainly remember him dressed up in his VFW 'uniform' and marching in the annual Veteran's Day Parade in the (relatively) small town when he lived. The one story I know about him in Korea was told to me by my father - to illustrate the point that you should never suddenly wake a sleeping person (which we kids did to my dad a lot, and he got really mad when we did) - was that my grandfather was well behind enemy lines, sleeping, when they were over-run - he was one of the few who made it out alive. I do not know if that was the famed "Pusan Perimeter" battle - but I like to think it was. My grandfather died when I was about 12.
My great-grandfather, on my mother's side, died when he was 98 (and I was a few years out of high school by then). He had a small farm up in Washington and we would go visit and play in the barn, play in the creek, and watch the occasional train go by. They finally had to take his driver's license away from him when he couldn't remember where he parked - he was about 90 then. He had some great stories - like coming to Washington with his family, travelling in a covered wagon.
My grandmother, on my father's side, re-married. I think she was married 3 times, and 3 times a widow; I never knew any of them as they had all passed before I was born. She was fairly famous (at least locally) for her painting - especially her china painting. She even taught classes. Unfortunately, one of my aunts basically came in and absconded with most of her works after she died, but I do have a few oil paintings - one of which she specifically painted for me (it has a back story that I will not get into here - perhaps another post...if you're lucky).
My mother's parents divorced and re-married other people (before I was born). I do not remember my step-grandfather, though. But we would go and spend summers with my grandfather and my step-grandmother. Even after my grandfather's death, we would often visit my step-grandmother (though we never used the word "step"; she was just one more 'grandma'), especially in the summer, right around July 4th. We'd go watch the annual fireworks display, shot over the lake. She died back in 2006.
Which brings us back to my last grandmother. She moved down from Washington to live closer to her children - my mother, my aunt and my uncle - a few years back, so I would she her fairly often. Not just holidays, mind you, but most family birthdays and sometimes no particular reason at all. Though she was starting to get more forgetful, for the most part she still had all (or at least "most") of her mental faculties - as far as I know there was no dementia. Fortunately for me, this seems to be the case for my mother's side of the family. Unfortunately for me, the same cannot be said about my father's side. Guess that leaves me with about a 50% chance...which is better than no chance. I'll miss her, of course, but she had a good run. But as of this week, I no longer have any grandparents. Pity.
On this past Tuesday, my last grandparent, my grandmother on my mother's side, passed-away; she was 96. Though she had some kind of fall the night before, she did not appear to sustain injury. The staff at the "home" (more like an apartment complex) helped her back up and back into bed and checked-in on her, from time-to-time, throughout the night. But in the early morning, they found that she had gone - peacefully, as far as anyone could tell.
I never knew my grandfather on my father's side, as he died when my father was 13. But his story lives-on because he did, on the day of his death, an incredibly stupid thing. The story is that he had sold a motorcycle and was delivering it to the new owner, just few blocks away - he was riding without a helmet when a car hit him, knocking him off the motorcycle and hitting his head on the ground. From what I've been told, it was a low-speed incident and had he been wearing a helmet.... It is a constant reminder to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, no matter how "short" the ride or how "slow" you go - one that my father (and me, for that matter) never forgot; when he rode, he ALWAYS wore a helmet.
My grandfather on my mother's side was a war vet; he fought in Korea. I don't recall which branch of the military he fought in, though; I mainly remember him dressed up in his VFW 'uniform' and marching in the annual Veteran's Day Parade in the (relatively) small town when he lived. The one story I know about him in Korea was told to me by my father - to illustrate the point that you should never suddenly wake a sleeping person (which we kids did to my dad a lot, and he got really mad when we did) - was that my grandfather was well behind enemy lines, sleeping, when they were over-run - he was one of the few who made it out alive. I do not know if that was the famed "Pusan Perimeter" battle - but I like to think it was. My grandfather died when I was about 12.
My great-grandfather, on my mother's side, died when he was 98 (and I was a few years out of high school by then). He had a small farm up in Washington and we would go visit and play in the barn, play in the creek, and watch the occasional train go by. They finally had to take his driver's license away from him when he couldn't remember where he parked - he was about 90 then. He had some great stories - like coming to Washington with his family, travelling in a covered wagon.
My grandmother, on my father's side, re-married. I think she was married 3 times, and 3 times a widow; I never knew any of them as they had all passed before I was born. She was fairly famous (at least locally) for her painting - especially her china painting. She even taught classes. Unfortunately, one of my aunts basically came in and absconded with most of her works after she died, but I do have a few oil paintings - one of which she specifically painted for me (it has a back story that I will not get into here - perhaps another post...if you're lucky).
My mother's parents divorced and re-married other people (before I was born). I do not remember my step-grandfather, though. But we would go and spend summers with my grandfather and my step-grandmother. Even after my grandfather's death, we would often visit my step-grandmother (though we never used the word "step"; she was just one more 'grandma'), especially in the summer, right around July 4th. We'd go watch the annual fireworks display, shot over the lake. She died back in 2006.
Which brings us back to my last grandmother. She moved down from Washington to live closer to her children - my mother, my aunt and my uncle - a few years back, so I would she her fairly often. Not just holidays, mind you, but most family birthdays and sometimes no particular reason at all. Though she was starting to get more forgetful, for the most part she still had all (or at least "most") of her mental faculties - as far as I know there was no dementia. Fortunately for me, this seems to be the case for my mother's side of the family. Unfortunately for me, the same cannot be said about my father's side. Guess that leaves me with about a 50% chance...which is better than no chance. I'll miss her, of course, but she had a good run. But as of this week, I no longer have any grandparents. Pity.
posted by TubaMeister at
09:14
1 Comments:
Awwwww that's so sad :-/
*HUGS*
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