Sunday, January 19, 2014

My Husband's Grandparents

My grandfathers passed before I was old enough to know them and my grandmothers went about the same way so having "grandparent-in-laws" has been a wonderful relationship for me.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of the two of them together.  I have others but they're stuck on a dead laptop :(.  She was in the hospital and this was taken a few days before she passed on.  Since my 2nd husband and I married later on in life, I didn't get to know her as much as I wanted to.  She had hearing issues and outside of my own house, I'm very soft-spoken.  So we didn't have many conversations.  It's been almost a year and I still miss her terribly though we didn't know each other well.


But my gratitude really is more for his grandfather.  He's cankerous, ornery, a pain in the neck, absolutely stubborn and everything I'd want in my own grandfather.  I spend one day a week with him cleaning up the house.  He's 95, afraid of nursing homes and can't get around very well.  He's done so much for his family that we all pitch to make sure he can stay in his own home.

I'm grateful to have been able to form a bond with this man who has taught me so much in the last five years.  Especially this last one.  We've gone from pleasantries to really having heartfelt conversations and from what I understand, he doesn't do that with anyone.  He's done so much in his life and at the top of it all, he's strived to provide everything his family needs.  He's helped me mature immensely and I want to do nothing more than make him proud.  Every time there's unpleasantness with the extended family, I always want to distance myself, then I think about how much he would disapprove.  If he notices conflict between family members, he's the first to try to fix the fissure.  He reminds us that family should always be there no matter what.  And because of him, I may not be there holding their hands all the time, but when they need a hand, they know they can count on me.  And it's all due to a 95 year old man who loves a granddaughter-in-law.

This weekend, this wonderful man--who's fought in every war in his lifetime up until Desert Storm, who's taken sniper bullets in the neck, who built a house for his wife and four boys in three months before he was deployed, who has given just about everything he has for his family and country--is in the hospital with congestive heart failure.  We feel strongly he will come home to us but because of his age, there's a really big fear that he may go HOME to join his wife.  Of course, it's our selfishness that makes us want to have him with us in body and spirit, but God's Will be done.  Please help me pray for him. If it's his time, pray that he goes quickly and painlessly.  Pray that our family is ready to be without his constant, supportive guidance and that we can pull together and help one another.  If it's not his time and his wife can be without him a little longer, please pray for a speedy recovery.

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