StarDestroyer.Net BBS

It's been a month since it happened, but here goes.

My grandfather passed away on Christmas day (my mom's father). We were visiting New York for christmas. As he was going to bed he fell and hit his head (this was on Wednesday evening the week before christmas). He was unconscious before he hit the floor but a fireman and paramedic came. He was taken to the hospital; Sadly the use of blood thinners prevented the doctors from operating until there was too much brain damage. He'd had heart problems for a while and he's had at least one brush with death least three years ago (though not for heart problems). Hence the thinners.
He signed a do not resuscitate order, so he just stayed in the hospital until the end. I said my goodbyes the day after it happened, in the hospital, which was a pretty difficult moment. My uncle flew in from Sweeden (just goes to show how big a deal it was). Move ahead a week. On christmas day I'm sitting on the couch back home and mom tells me having just gotten off the phone that my grandfather passed away. He was 80 years old.

So yeah. Mom and dad attended the funeral while my sister and I babysat our paternal grandmother (who's 93). There's going to be a memorial in June or so, but it's still kind of numbing. He was a pretty big part of my life and I was really hoping he'd come to my graduation.

My condolences, Yan.
I have not yet had to go through losing a grandparent as both my grandfathers died before I was born, but the thought of losing either of my grans is almost unbearable.
Just try to focus on all the good times you had with him, grieve however you need to, and stay strong

My condolences as well. When you've known someone that long though, there are plenty of good memories that can you can keep with you. My grandfather died of cancer last June, and he too was a big part of my life when I was younger. The memorial we had for him did have a few people cry of course, my grandmother, my aunts, some of his old World War 2 friends, and after I spoke about him I had to leave for a bit to shed some tears myself. But aside from that, most of the day was filled with people laughing, smiling, telling jokes and stories*. It was a good day and wasn't too sad at all. He was a good man and left behind many memories. Didn't mean to hijack your thread or anything, but I guess I'm trying to say that you'll miss him for a long time, but the good memories will more than make up for that as time passes.

*He was an engineer for the Navy, in charge of designing tracking equipment to locate Soviet submarines. He was something of a straight-laced bookworm. Yet as a child, he once sat on a hill overlooking a roadway with a bow and arrow set, rags, and gasoline...and shot real flaming arrows at passing cars. We heard this from one of his childhood friends and we were stunned that he would be such a hellraiser.

My grandfathers are long dead. Both were pretty awesome in their own ways. Good luck dealing with it.