To everything there is a season...

I think it's my turn to write something on here about the events of this week. To be honest, this is the first time I'm sitting down to my computer and not my iPhone.
Christmas evening was spent at my grandparents' apartment in Fairfax. The quote, "keeping watch over their flocks by night" comes to mind. In this case, the flocks were the ones keeping watch. My grandfather was transitioning into the next life right before our very eyes and all we could do was keep watch and wonder, with every pause in breathing, if that was, in fact, it.
He was never a touchy-feely man. In fact, I think the only memories I have of touching him are while he was laying in that hospital bed on Sunday and I touched his hand. His body was so thin and weak and frail...certainly not the Grandaddy I've known my whole life.
We left the apartment that night knowing the end was near and hoping it wouldn't drag on much longer than it already had. If you knew my grandfather, he did nothing quickly (leave a social gathering, open wrapped gifts, eat, etc.) and so was the case with his death. Wait, I take that back, his wit was quick, but other than that, he certainly took his time. (Imagine Todd as an old man)

We were planning on heading home Monday night, but decided to get up Tuesday morning to make the drive instead. I'm so glad we stayed. Around 5:30, Devin came in to tell me that Grandaddy was gone. He heard my parents wake up and rush over to be with Mana and told them he'd come tell me. The events of that morning were very calm and still. Thankfully. I'm thankful that some unseen power woke my grandmother up so she could hold and comfort him while he slipped from this life into the next. I'm thankful that Todd and I could drive there together to experience the calm of his death before the chaos set in. I'm thankful that my dad is a funeral director and could care for my grandfather's body like no one else could. I'm thankful for a grandmother who kept her marriage vows and cared for my grandfather for many years, even when she was tired, frustrated and weary. I'm thankful that she is now free to live her life without the responsibility of caring for Grandaddy at all times. And I am thankful that I had a grandfather close-by and involved in my life for almost 30 years.
If you needed help with your car, he was there. If you had a school concert, he was there. Birthday dinner? There. Holiday? There. No, he was not a hugger, but he was there. And that, my friends, is what really matters.
Rest in peace, Grandaddy. 'Til we meet again...