For those of you that haven’t heard, my Grandma passed away on Friday evening. Each night since she was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, the doctors said they didn’t feel she would make it through the night. She sure showed them.
God was really with my grandma and my family during the long struggle. The nurse she had the first night used to work at the nursing home where my grandma stayed. She knew all about her, which comforted us all. We saw people we hadn’t seen in years and were surrounded by many friendly nurses. Mandino checked in regularly to see if she could help in anyway, which she did by just being there. My aunt was able to make the trip from New Jersey to be by her mom’s side. We all even went out to dinner at Pizza Hut which we all thought was impossible. It actually was a good experience and I think we all needed each other’s company and support. Everyone got the chance to visit with my Grandma and as the days passed she became weaker and weaker. On Friday she mainly slept and only opened her eyes a few times. My aunt had to catch a flight back on Friday afternoon but was happy to spend the time she did with her.
Kelly and I were able to get to the hospital on Friday around 11:15am. We sat with grandma for a long while and just talked while trying to let her rest. At some point a lady named “Ms. Dorothy” stopped by. She had also been friends with Mandy’s Nanny before she passed away. Ms. Dorothy stayed for a little while and shared stories with us about her visits with my grandma. She prayed for my grandma and even got her to open her eyes for a few minutes. At this point she asked us to hold our grandma’s hands and talk to her and tell her how much we loved her. She then listened to her struggled breaths and told us she was a nurse as well and that my grandma didn’t have long. This was something no other nurse had let us know even though we had asked and we appreciated it so much. God works in such mysterious ways. By having Ms. Dorothy there we were able to get past our fear of crying and talking with my grandma and we were able to tell her we loved her and that it was ok for her to go and that we would all be ok. This was something I’m sure my sister nor I ever thought we’d be saying. Despite all of our family’s efforts to let my grandma know it was ok to go to Heaven, she still wouldn’t go.
A little while later Kelly and I decided to go to the vending machines and grab some “dinner”. We sat and talked for a little bit in the corner of the room while snacking. One of the nurses came in and asked if grandma liked music because they had a cd player that we could use. We told her how much she loved to listen to music and how almost always the music was playing when we would visit. The nurse left to get the cd player and I mentioned to Kelly that I thought I would feel more of a “presence” in the room as time drew near but I didn’t feel anything yet so we must have more time with her. The nurse came in with the cd player and plugged it in and could not find the cd. She left the room to go look and a few seconds later my grandma took her last breath. We stumbled out of our chairs to get to her and hold her hands. At that time the CD fell from the top of the Cd player and my grandma was gone. We cried and held her hands for quite some time. Then I began to put the pieces together about the music and out of comic relief told the nurse that my grandma must not have liked the music. I knew right then that God was showing me that He is ALWAYS there and so I guess He told me.
My Grandma was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known. She was definitely stubborn too (Go Irish!). We also figured out why she didn’t go to Heaven sooner. While she was still living with my parents, she pouted one night about something and was storming to her room when my dad told her she should just go to her room if she was going to be that way. My Grandma stomped right back down and sat on the couch and said “If you are going to tell me to go to my room then I’m going to stay right here” (or something of those sorts). So now we understand that my grandma was not going to go to Heaven when we told her to but when she was ready to go herself.
Rest in Peace Grandma! Have a good dance with Grandpa!
