my paternal grandmother died yesterday
Mar. 17th, 2005 06:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iamomWoke up this morning to a voice mail from my dad from late last night telling me that his mom died yesterday afternoon at 2:40. The ringer's turned off in our bedroom, so we didn't hear his call.
I had last spoken with Granddad just last week, and she was failing enough that she was going to be moved to the hospice fairly soon. My dad's message said that she died at the hospice, so she certainly wasn't there for too long. She was about 76, and while she had metastatic uterine cancer, I believe that her final cause of death was related to a pneumonia she developed a couple weeks ago. She was too weak to clear the fluid from her lungs, so eventually she was bound to lose breathing control.
It's funny, because I thought of her several times yesterday afternoon and early evening. I now know that those were the hours leading up to her passing. I also wrote her a short letter to include with a batch of photos from my Vernon trip last month and mailed them all yesterday. Granddad should enjoy those, though.
Since I was there only a month ago, I don't expect that I'll go back for the funeral. My dad's in the middle of a golfing vacation with a friend of his in Victoria, but he's going to call me this morning -- probably to suggest that I stay here. He sounds fine; I think everyone was expecting this fairly soon. And clearly the timing of my visit to Vernon was ideal. I'm glad I got to make that trip and see her while she was still lucid.
I had last spoken with Granddad just last week, and she was failing enough that she was going to be moved to the hospice fairly soon. My dad's message said that she died at the hospice, so she certainly wasn't there for too long. She was about 76, and while she had metastatic uterine cancer, I believe that her final cause of death was related to a pneumonia she developed a couple weeks ago. She was too weak to clear the fluid from her lungs, so eventually she was bound to lose breathing control.
It's funny, because I thought of her several times yesterday afternoon and early evening. I now know that those were the hours leading up to her passing. I also wrote her a short letter to include with a batch of photos from my Vernon trip last month and mailed them all yesterday. Granddad should enjoy those, though.
Since I was there only a month ago, I don't expect that I'll go back for the funeral. My dad's in the middle of a golfing vacation with a friend of his in Victoria, but he's going to call me this morning -- probably to suggest that I stay here. He sounds fine; I think everyone was expecting this fairly soon. And clearly the timing of my visit to Vernon was ideal. I'm glad I got to make that trip and see her while she was still lucid.
