(This picture was taken a few weeks ago.)
Today my Grandpa Davis died.
What a weird day.
He lives (or lived) in the apartment just in front of me, so my mom flagged me down as I was driving in to let me know he had passed away.
I was just coming home from a hair appointment where my sister-in-law Lana and I were talking about how he would never die. Literally minutes before.
He has held on for several years longer than "they" thought he would as his quality of life has become more and more tragic. These last few months my mother has had to take care of him almost like a newborn.
It's been hard on both of them...and probably good for both of them too.
There were two young boys, maybe 19 or 20, sent from the mortuary to come pick him up.
Inexpertly they hoisted him up on the gurney, nearly dropping him once, and struggled with trying to get the gurney legs to lock at the right height. They were trying desperately to be respectful while doing their job...but it was awkward.
There my grandfather lay through all of it, mouth hanging open, looking like a wax museum figure and it made me sad.
I don't know that I have ever seen somebody so close up after they just died. Not embalmed and all dressed up at a funeral.
Just dead.
As I looked at him lying there I knew it wasn't him. It was so obvious. It was the shell that housed my grandfather while he was here, but that was not my grandpa.
The two young boys shuttling him to the mortuary have no idea who my grandfather was. They just transfer the shell. They don't know that he's the father of 4 wonderful children, the grandfather of 12 and the great-grandfather of 25. They don't know he was an inventor, a musician or a survivor of WWII. They don't know he had a life, full of experiences and people that loved him.
All they met was the shell.
How sad it would be if all was forgotten as they took that shell away. If grandpa really was dead.
But grandpa's not dead.
His body is, but he is most definitely not.
See you on the other side Grandpa.
9 comments:
So sorry about your loss - but it sounds like he lived a fulfilling life and it is nice to know that he's in a better place.
Thanks for sharing these sweet words. Sorry for your loss.
Dixie, thanks for the sweet remembrances of Grandpa Davis. We are sorry for your loss, but grateful you and your children had this time with him since moving back to Mesa. I appreciated knowing about his life and what he really is, besides how nice he was to me whenever I saw him. You have a gift of words. You express yourself well. Thank you.
Dixie, so sorry for your loss. Your post was a very sweet memorial to him. Looks like you were both lucky to have each other, and a good family.
Your post made me get teary-eyed. Sad for you and your family to be without your grandpa but happy that he is not "gone" and that you'll see him again. So much truth to your words.
Sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing your sweet thoughts.
i am so sorry dixie. made me tear up.
Thanks Dix for writing that. Everything you said was so true and just right. Sometimes I really hate what time does to our mortal "shells", or how lonely the heart feels when really missing those gone from life here. But, seeing 'em all "on the other side" will be pretty dang awesome!
Very well written indeed! Glad you could express in such a brief passage all he was and had accomplished. And I can't imagine watching that awkward experience, very wierd.
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