Rain drops collect on my screen, making me think that the heavens are shedding a tear after welcoming even more people inside the pearly gates. I thought it was this noise that woke me up, a day after my fiancé suffered a minor injury while heading to work. Instead, I guess a gut feeling shook me out of my sleep.

I turned over and saw a message on my phone. It told me my nephew had lost his second grandparent in about four months. His beloved grandfather passed away after a valiant fight with cancer, a stroke and more pain than anyone person should endure.

My “sister-in-law” shared the crushing news with me just a couple of weeks after his condition took a turn for the worse. I’d hoped he’d hold on to say one final thing to her; to comfort her spirit. However, I believe now he’d already said everything he needed to to let her and my nephew know that they were loved and watched over by him until they could be together again.

My heart then ached for her mother. While I don’t know her well I know from the stories of her daily visits and desire to be by his side every day that she is missing the man she spent decades with, the love of her life and the father of her children. Their daughters who have tackled the world head on with strength, honesty, grace and intelligence. I can only hope that she sees that her husband lives in them, her grandsons and great grandson, who are a ray of hope and light to us all. 

#rip #death #grief #loss #cancersucks #stroke #family