The day that my mom told me my grandfather might have cancer, was surprising. I had never even thought about anything happening to him. He always seemed so healthy. She told me he was going to get tested.



A couple of weeks later, we found out my grandfather had a pretty bad case of bone cancer. He was sent to the hospital to get treated for his cancer. It all had come so unexpectedly. It took me awhile for it to all sink in. My mom was gone every week for different amounts of time visiting him, taking care of him. He lived in Bloomington. We had to cope with my mother gone all the time. But it was necessary.



The next few months were bumpy. He would get better slightly, and then get worse then it was before. He was switched between nursing homes and hospital what seemed like every month. We constantly prayed for his health and hoped for the best. One day, we were told my grandfather was never going to leave the hospital. This hurt. It basically told it wasn’t getting better at this point. And I couldn’t help but think about him being gone. I hadn’t even seen him in about 3 months. The one chance I could visit him, I wasn’t allowed to visit because I had a cold. No germs could be around him. He became so ill, he only weighed about 10 pounds more then me. It was tough.



One morning, I woke up to my dad calling my name.

“Grace, I have something sad to tell you, grandpa died last night.” For some reason I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know why I was so shocked. He had been so weak for so long. What did I expect, some kind of warning? I didn’t cry. I guess since I hadn’t seen him in so long it didn’t even seem like it. I just couldn’t get the idea in my head. But every time I thought about it my eyes stung .



The next week was the funeral. I went to Bloomington with my family. I got to my cousins house and saw all of my family members from all over. Many hugs were passed around. Later I got ready for the wake. It was hard to see everyone crying. I went up to the open casket. He really looked nice. It was sort of nice to see him in peace. The funeral was beautiful. My grandfather was a part of the Air Force, so veterans came to the funeral and preformed a 21 Gun Salute. Everyone got a bullet from one of the guns. We put an American Flag with him in his casket. I cried at the funeral for the first time.



It was hard to have my grandfather being gone, but I just remind myself to think how much better of a place he is in now then before he died. He was so weak. Now he is with my grandmother in heaven. Actually, just yesterday would have been their 62nd wedding anniversary. I loved my grandfather and am glad he is in a better place now.