Events inevitable

I called down to my mom's house to talk to my step-dad about where a couple of lakes were in northeast Arkansas...

My step-dad was on his way out the door....to meet my mom at the hospital where my grandfather is.

He told me that Grandpa has gone downhill dramatically from when I saw him over Christmas. When I saw him then, he was fighting for breath, arching his entire body with every breath. He didn't always know who was there.

The doctors called the family in tonight as they don't expect him to make it through the night. He's thrashing with every breath and is fighting to get every breath.

My grandfather will (would?) turn 84 next month.

I never realized how much he meant to me. I'll always remember sitting at the dining room table passing the afternoons away with Grandpa playing cards, listening to his baudy jokes from the Second World War, and now I realize that no matter how much I looked forward to that, it won't happen again.

Sometimes, it takes the loss of a loved one to realize how much they meant to you. If we are really blessed, we realize that those who are still with us are just as special and we need to tell them and enjoy those good times while we can.

For now, I'll cry. I guess the timing couldn't be better. Monday is a school holiday. I could leave as early as tomorrow morning and still be back for classes on Tuesday. I just don't now how well I'll be able to handle it.