Goodbye to Grandpa
This week we’ll be saying goodbye to my grandfather, Arlie Sommer. I’m really lucky to have had a grandfather who lived almost 93 years, and was married to my grandmother for 71 (exactly – he died on their anniversary). I had to chuckle yesterday as I was reflecting on one of our favorite stories about Grandpa. People would often ask him and Grandma whether it seemed like they had been married so long – after all, Hallmark stops making up new anniversary themes at 60 years. Grandma would say that time goes fast, and it “seems like it was just yesterday” that they were getting married in the parsonage living room. Grandpa would mutter “and you know what lousy day yesterday was!” in a joking way. I thought, well, Friday really was a lousy day, it’s hard to imagine a lousier day than Grandpa passing away. It’s like the final punchline to his joke.
Grandpa was diabetic, but was able to manage it well with a restricted diet and regular exercise, and lots of sugar free foods. He survived cancer in the 1980s, when he had to drive an hour each way to the hospital three times a week, and the radiation treatments left burns on his skin. He had a 5-way bypass in the 90s, and his heart stopped on the operating table, but they got it going again and so he kept of living an active life for another dozen years. He had gangrene in his toe from lack of circulation about a year ago, but with some clever re-routing and roto-rootering of arteries and veins, he was able to recover and enjoy pink healthy toes again. Grandma would carry a list of his surgeries and medicines with her, in case he had to go to the hospital, and it amazed me. I think of Grandpa as a miracle of modern medicine.
I’m sad to not see Grandpa again, but I also feel so lucky. Lucky that my parents went to pick him up Friday morning for a doctor’s appointment, so they were there the day he died. Lucky that he didn’t suffer or have a drawn-out hospital stay. Lucky that he and Grandma lived together, in their own place, their whole married lives. Lucky that Brian and I just visited last month while we were in Indy. My brother called me around noon on Friday to tell me they’d taken Grandpa to the hospital. I had two proposal papers due at 5pm, and I really had to concentrate to get them done; I said a quick prayer and vowed to think about Grandpa after they were submitted. So, I was lucky to be thinking about him when he died at 5:02pm.
The calling is Tuesday and the funeral is Wednesday. I hope to get my thoughts together to be able to speak at the funeral, tell a few stories and share what Grandpa meant to me. For now, we’ll be sad for a while, travel to Ohio to say goodbye, and reflect on Grandpa’s long and full life.
Posted: June 8th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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Time: May 9, 2009, 7:48 pm
[…] visting my family. We planted a White Oak tree at K.C. Geiger Park on Arbor Day in memory of my Grandpa . It was a beautiful day to spend with Grandma, Mom &Dad, Rich&Sarah and many neighbors […]
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