Not a good week

On Sunday (which I recently saw was "Grandparent's Day" on my calendar--ouch) I got a call from my mom. She told me that my grandfather--my dad's dad, my mom's parents have both left the world of the living already--was in the process of dying--he's been in the hospital's long-term care ward for the last two and a half years, battling cancer. I misheard, and proceeded to tell a few friends he had died. Oops. By the time I realized I had misheard, we were in Grundy Center--a dead zone for my phone, so I couldn't retract the statement. We stayed the night in the grandparents' house--both are in the hospital, so it's been a kind of flophouse for people visiting them--and went back Monday morning. Nothing had changed, and my dad had a Tuesday morning doctor's appointment, so I hitched a ride back to Ames with him so I could do laundry (Monday is my normal laundry day).

On Tuesday at around noon, my dad picked me up and we went back up there. His breathing had improved since we left--up to 20 per minute and calm, instead of 12 per minute and ragged (yes I timed him, I got a little bored). Still, he wasn't responding to anything, or even opening his eyes. We went back to the grandparents' for the night, and I slept on the couch again, first falling asleep while trying to watch the White Sox play in Seattle--stupid 9:10 start time--but I woke up for the last two batters. Anyway, early this morning, I awoke to running feet and a phone ringing. I knew what it was, so I stayed still while my dad answered the phone. After he hung up, I heard him say to my mom that his dad had died about 15 minutes before. I grabbed my cell phone and checked the time--6:15.

The rest of today was spent finalizing funeral plans, and getting things ordered. Everyone is taking off for home tonight, with some of us already home--my mom and myself for sure, others will arrive at their respective homes later. Tonight is going to be the first time since Saturday night that I will sleep in a bed--I was too tired to clear things out of the way for my bed on Monday night. We'll get back together on Friday for the viewing, and the funeral is Saturday morning, with yours truly as one of the pallbearers. I might even be next to a former Cy--we'll have to wait and see where they put us.