Grandpa Eichelberger

I told you in a previous post that it has been a crazy week and it is not due to kids antics, school or crazy schedules. A week ago Thursday, my Grandpa Eichelberger fell and broke his hip. About 24 hours after that happened we were called and told that he wasn't doing well and would probably die in the next 2-3 days. My Aunt Susan had been with my grandpa since Thursday night and, as of Sunday, it looked like it might be a while so a schedule was set to relieve her for part of each day that followed and an aid helped at night so that my Aunt could get some rest for the next day. I stayed with him for a while on Sunday morning and He was trying to get out of bed and talking so it was hard to believe that this might be the end but if you know my grandpa you also know that if there is a norm he does not take it. There is a lot of stuff in between but it doesn't look right when it is typed so I will jump ahead to Friday May 16. I was going in to relieve my Aunt after Jared got home from work. When I got there I knew that she was not going to be leaving because it looked like he wasn't going to live much longer. I stayed, along with a cousin of ours and a friend of my Aunts. My grandpa passed away on Friday May 16 at 8:15pm.

A couple of thoughts that occurred to me were this is really a second goodbye to my grandpa. The first one was when he had his stroke seven years earlier and we said goodbye to the grandpa that we grew up with, visiting in Idaho, fishing with (I didn't fish but others did), teasing with "killer" the beanbag dog that was held together with a bandaid, trying to get a hello or goodbye kiss in without the false teeth popping out at you just for laughs, teasing at bedtime with "goodnight Johnboy" (after several versions around the room grandma would quite us down with "dry up, old man"), and spending Christmas Eve with. The second goodbye was to a grandpa that our kids grew up with, one that we would visit in nursing homes. He was a grandpa that couldn't quite remember your name (and besides if you didn't know he wasn't going to tell you), he might not even remember what year it was but what he lacked in memory he made up with in quick witted comments and comebacks. We loved him dearly and those that served him loved him too.

I must include how grateful I am to have an Aunt that has spend the last seven years of her life caring for and looking out for the best interest of her dad and my grandpa. Not many people, actually, make that no one but her so selflessly devoted their time and energy to making his life better, like she did. Even if he wouldn't remember it in the next 5 minutes, she would take him to Wienerschnitzel twice a week because that is what he liked. She would take him for a ride in the car because he enjoyed it for that moment. She would leave her house in the middle of the night for numerous visits to the hospital and she was constantly looking for the best place for him to stay, which she achieved. Thank you Aunt Susan!

I am grateful my grandpa was able to return to our Heavenly Father and reunite with his wife and siblings that have gone before. He missed my grandma desperately and I am sure it was a happy reunion. It is always hard to say goodbye to someone you love but it is much harder to see them suffer or just not live the life they want because of the limits of their aging body. If you get to choose what you do in heaven I am sure that he and my Grandma are together and his days are filled with fishing.

So, for the last time...."Goodnight Johnboy"