The Changelog

Terah called me at work yesterday afternoon to say that she had just seen my grandfather, and he was not well. Although we had both visited him regularly, and our last visit was on Sunday, she suggested that I ought to go see him in the evening, too. He was declining rapidly, and might pass away at any time.

Grandpa has been ill for several years now. He's been diagnosed with both Parkinson's and congestive heart failure (CHF). There have been several times in the past few years where he almost died. He's the only person I've ever heard of that's flunked out of Hospice because he got better. (I think he was proud of that, though he never let on)

It seems not that long ago that we were having family gatherings at grandpa's house on his farm, complete with his famous beef borscht, zweibach, ham, and tea rings. Then he moved into town, and finally, into the nursing home. Our family gatherings lately have been in a meeting room at the nursing home,and everybody brings something -- good food, but, well, not Grandpa's.

One year for Christmas, Terah and I decided to make up some borscht for grandpa. We had his recipe, and with Terah's cooking skills and my memory, we came pretty close. Grandpa was very surprised, ate a lot, and was the envy of all the other residents that day. He also could tell us exactly what ingredient we had too little of.

The CHF has made talking difficult for him for some years now, but he always manages to say something. One time, he was in intensive care in the hospital, and Terah went to visit him. She held his hand and talked to him, although he looked like he was asleep (it was hard to tell). When she was ready to leave, he managed to open his eyes for a moment and say "thank you" for visiting.

Every time we would visit him, even if he had only a word or two to say to us during the visit, he always made sure to say thank you for visiting. He'd usually add that he wanted us to come visit again soon.

When Terah saw him yesterday afternoon, he didn't have the energy to say thank you.

When we saw him yesterday evening, he was just strong enough to nod and say "I think so" when Terah asked if he remembered her earlier visit.

Now, it was finally my turn to say thank you, for letting us visit him.