I think my grandfather may be dead by tomorrow

He's been in hospital in Coleraine for a while but we just got a phone call to say he is "deteriorating rapidly".

 

And you stopped to post this, why? Go to him!

 

Most of the time they can predict it by the numbers when people fall to a certain point.
How old is your Grand paw and I wish you and yours all the best. You need to be with Grandma.

 

If you're able, get to him. If you're not... do something to get able.

 

Oh, thats right, your a Welshie. Do you guys have those wakes where everyone gets hammered drunk?

 

Instead of sitting in front of your computer right now, You REALLY should be at his bedside with him... seriously...GO TO HIM!!

 

In fairness he might not be close enough to get to him or Gandpa might be out of it and who wants to just set around listening to the beep and waiting on the death rattle.

 

Decent folk.

 

You know that is not fair at all.

 

I would go...Death beep or not

 

What if it cost money you did not have to get there?

 

I'm sorry to hear this. I hope the doctors are wrong or he rallies.

 

Doctors are often wrong.

I have a good friend who is down in FL this weekend. He is going, for over the 10th time, for his father's final weekend.

 

I would still go anyway. My dad is 77 years old. If I ever got a call like that, I would be at his side no matter how many "false calls" the doctor gave.


I would be there each and every single time!

 

First, my best wishes M.
These things are trying on the spirit and soul, may peace be on yours.

Second

This is a reality. Intended bravado is all well and good but reality dictates any action.
I wasn't able to get up to NC for the passing of my last living elder in the family, my Aunt in Statesville.

Needless to say I didn't make the funeral either. I have buried all of my direct kin except her and my Uncle, and with him his ashes were blended into the gulf so it was a futile effort. He and I talked just before his passing about it all.
I never did get that tape of his funeral like I was promised by his buddies...

 

I lost an uncle in Statesville in 2007, he was near death many times and we just could not go down there that many times. Both my parents are from Statesville originally. I was just thinking about the time my grandfather in statesville died while I was in the Air Force in England. I have only my parents and 3 brothers. No aunts, uncles, cousins.

 

I hope your family gets a miracle, MF. And if not, I hope his passing is swift and pain-free as possible.

And while I am probably going to hell for this, I must ask...

Is there going to be a midnight funeral?

 

Reading the thread has prevented me from making the jackass comment, Red Room be damned. Best of luck to the Old Man's Old Man.

 

He has actually died. He was 85.

He was taken in back in july short of breath, and they did an operation in september where they put a stent in to widen his aorta which had become constricted. They also had thought about putting in a heart valve as his original one was leaking a bit, but they feared this might actually just kill him because he'd got weak.

The main problem was lung damage caused by working heavily with asbestos years ago.

He did actually get home for a while, with an oxygen concentrator and a portable oxygen tank in his home. However about a fortnight ago he got very short of breath and was taken to hospital in an ambulance with fluid on his lungs. They got him rallied and he seemed to be doing OK for about a week, but then this week he started going up and down more. On thursday night his o2 level dipped to 50, then rallied during the day.

I live in Portadown, my sister and mother and father also live in Portadown, but most of the other relatives live in Coleraine, about 70 miles away by road. My mum and dad (his son) had been with him friday, and he seemed like he'd make it through the night OK, so they left and began to drive towards Portadown. They got a phone call when they were about 25 miles down the road to say that he was deteriorating rapidly, then they turned about and headed back. At this time, they phoned me, but I was about to go to bed. It's an hour and a half drive to get there and I thought I would be driving dangerously through fatigue, and he might be dead when I got there. So I went to bed. I thought there was still a chance he'd be alive in the morning.

Apparently he passed away very shortly after that phone call, and before any of the relatives (including the ones living in Coleraine) actually got there.

I've been kicking myself that I didn't go up earlier on Friday, but I had no idea he was actually going to die that night. None of us did.

I'll probably be up there later today.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers all, but it was his time.

I'll maybe not be on the board as much if at all over the next few days.

 

Think about the changes that man saw throughout his life. Lots of big world wide ones.

 

Dang!! I missed the betting pool.

 

I hope he lived a good one with no regrets man... That the best any of us ever get.

 

My condolences regarding your grandfather's passing.

I wish I could have given you this advice sooner, but I'll still pass it on so that others on the board might benefit from it.

Get a tape or digital recorder, go talk to your grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., and record their stories about their life experiences. Every time one of them passes, a wealth of family history and lore is lost.

Record these stories, make copies, preserve them, and pass them down to your children.

 

This reminds me of something important.

My grandfather typed out a history of our family and sent it to me. I shelved it, wanting to give it the attention it deserved - undivided. I have the time now, but haven't read it.

That is changing right now.

 

I can remember going to family reunions when I was a kid and the hearing the older folks telling their stories. I listened to some, still remember a few, but have forgotten most.

Apparently, my Dad knew much of our paternal family line, but he never passed it down to me. When I had just turned 25 and was getting old enough and mature enough to wonder about my family history, my Dad was killed in an accident and everything he could have told me died with him.

There are alot of questions that I'd dearly love to ask him now, but he's gone.

Don't let this happen to you. Listen to those family stories. Ask those questions. Record it or, even better, write it all down so that your family history doesn't get lost.

It took me another 20+ years and alot of research to learn my paternal ancestry.

 

Share it?


For example, a few questions I've wondered about you:
1. What was your mother's maiden name?
2. How do the digits of your SSN compare to hers?