Grandpa

Part II

It was a Monday at 3 am and I heard my father running down the stairs. I did not pay much attention to it because I was too sleepy. The next morning I approached my mother about what I had heard the night before. Morning mom, I said. Morning honey, she replied. So what was with all the raucous last night? I asked. The look on her face changed. She looked concerned, sad, as if I was not going to able to handle what she was about to say. I did not pull my eyes away from her until she told me. She took a deep breath, looked me in the eyes and said: Your grandmother called very early in the morning. She said she found your grandfather lying on the floor, and your father and uncle had to rush to the hospital with him. We are going to meet up with them now, so get dressed. I could not say anything, so I just nodded and went upstairs to get dressed.

            When I go to the hospital I see my whole family. Everyone had a worried look on their face, I was worried as well and scared but I was trying not to think about the situation too much. I just wanted to see my grandpa. I was not able to see him because I was too young to enter the room he was staying in. I sat in the waiting room anxious for someone to tell me what was going on. My parents were done in the hospital so we headed back home.

            When we arrived home my parents sat me and my sister down to explain the whole thing.  My father sighed look at us and said: listen girls, you should know things are not good. He sighed again. I could not stand the anxiety; there were things I wanted to know!  What is going on?  I want to know NOW! I thought to myself.

He could see that I was about to explode so he took my hand and said: Your grandfather had a stroke. I did not know what that was, I was completely unaware that word even existed. He saw that I was confused and explained  what a stroke was. When he was done my mother looked at my sister and me, and said: you should know that we do not know where this is heading but we must keep in mind that it is all in God’s plan and we will still be a family no matter what.  My sister and I looked at each other and nodded and hugged our parents and just laid there, in their arms because well… there was not much we could do except hope for the best. 

        The next day at the hospital I insisted on seeing my grandfather, so my dad made sure I did. I did not know what to expect but I did not care, I just wanted to see him. When I walked in, I noticed he was breathing through machines. He looked horrible. I never had seen him so weak. He could not talk; all he could do was blink.

            After that I did not go back into the room, not because I did not want to but because I was not allowed. He only stayed at the hospital a few days after that. Until we were ready to let go… until we were ready to turn off the machines that were keeping him alive. So we did eventually. We, let go.