Entry Six

Later that year, my Grandfather died.  I was coming home from drill one Saturday afternoon & my Grandma called me.  I figured it was our usual weekend call to let me know if they wanted me to turn their a.c. on the next day for when they got home from the lake and being up north.  Instead, I heard the words I had dreaded for years “Your grandpa’s in the hospital and he’s not going to make it.”  They had been at their campsite in Garrison & they flew him to H.C.M.C. in Minneapolis.  I was so shocked & didn’t know what to do.  Through a fog of phone calls & tears, I somehow managed to make my way to the hospital, not knowing where it was or where to park.  Family & friends had gathered for his final moments. I wanted so bad just to see him one last time but we were too late.   I remember a chaplain asking if anyone wanted to pray over him.  It was just me and a friend with the Chaplain and we said the Lord’s Prayer.  (My family was not religious at all and we never went to church.  I had just recently started to want to learn about God while serving in the Navy.)  When I touched him, he was so cold but I remember walking out to the waiting room & I said “I know he heard us.”  I was so firm with my thoughts that a friend felt bad because she thought that I thought he was still alive.  I knew his body was gone but something told me that his spirit lives on.  This was my first big loss, as so I’ve been told.  I have no idea what made me think that at the time but I “felt” it.

During the week of his death, we had been really busy with planning the funeral & getting everything lined up.  I knew I wanted to speak and give a eulogy but I couldn’t decide what story to tell so I told one of his favorites.  We had been driving from Virginia to Minnesota when I was transferring. After being on the road all day and all night, I had seen a sign for “Memphis”. I was so excited and asked him if we could stop for the night and visit Graceland the next day.  He said yes and after a few miles, I wasn’t seeing a sign for Graceland. He was playing along for some time when he finally busted out laughing and said “We’re in Memphis, Indiana – not Tennessee.” I was so embarrassed and pissed.  He laughed at that all the time.  He played me all along & enjoyed every minute of it.