Goodbye

Gma died a little over an hour ago. Thankfully she was in relatively little pain. Jessica and Nathan made it out this morning (my Gpa told my mom no one should have to pay to come out, so he essentially bought their flight out), and yesterday all of her children were together for the first time in 20 years.

I called Jessica yesterday morning to tell her I didn't think Gma would make it through the day. She and Nathan then arranged to come out ASAP, with Mom's help. Yesterday the family also arranged for Gpa to come out from the nursing home (hired a transport). He was over for about an hour, and although she was very weak, she was lucid for our little party. After they took her back in the house, my aunt Marie came out to tell Gpa how glad she was that he was able to come out and he just broke down. I've never seen someone sob like that; it was incredibly heartbreaking. I looked into the house and saw all my cousins with swollen eyes, and it was all I could do to make it into the front yard before I broke.

Today she was in bed all day, but thanks to Mom and her diligent siblings, all were there to make her as comfortable as possible, and administer her morphine regularly to keep her from pain. She stopped breathing at 8:28pm.

I am sad to see her go, but I am eternally grateful that she did not suffer long, and that she was surrounded by so many people that loved her.