Grandpa

November 5, 2011 around 10:50 p.m. my grandfather passed away. Honestly, it was a little unexpected. He had been "sick" for a while--still at home under the care of my amazing Grandma--but not really feeling well enough to venture much farther than the family room. He still traveled occasionally, though, and even came up here this past August to see my cousin Taylor come home from his mission.

For the past several weeks, though, he was having balance issues and headaches that were caused by a build up of fluid around his brain. My mom went down to Florida to be with Grandma and Grandpa when he went in November 3rd to have a rather routine operation done to relieve the pressure.

The night before the operation. My mom and Grandpa were playing Cribbage, Grandpa's game of choice, probably tied with Chess and Solitaire. He has taught every single grandchild how to play Cribbage at a fairly young age. I think I was probably 6 or 7 when I learned. How did he fair with this game? He beat my mom!

Grandpa with a Cribbage board.

Waiting at the hospital for the operation. Uncle Tubby is sitting next to him.

He came out okay and was able to get up to a chair and talk to everyone that was visiting. However, he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage sometime in the night, was unable to breathe on his own and had to be put on the ventilator.

Grandma and Grandpa.

At his age, 79, and with the damage to the brain already done, there was nothing the doctors could do, so the family decided to withdraw care on November 5th and Grandpa passed away shortly thereafter surrounded by his wife, his four children and Chad who drove from Miami to be there.

My mom contacted us to let us know what had happened and travel plans were made so we could all attend the funeral.

November 8th, I flew to Florida with Glenn, Laura, Amy, and Jason. Lance stayed with Scott and Jude stayed with the Grandmom and Pop Pop because George was away on an interview. Stephen flew in from SLC late that night and Chad drove up from Miami to be there as well.

Our layover in Charlotte, NC. It was a LOT of fun to travel with my siblings and Glenn.

We left Ashburn at 9 a.m and didn't get to Grandma's house in New Smyrna Beach, Florida until after 6 p.m.! That's a long day of travel for two hours of flight, but at least it was fun. 

When we got to Grandma's house we had a great dinner, thanks to all the generous neighbors and friends who brought over meal after meal after meal for all the family. It was nice to be at Grandma's house and be surrounded by our family, some of whom we hadn't seen in more than a year.

Heidi, my cousin, on the phone with her older girls who are talking to my Aunt Cherryl (Heidi's mom and my mom's sister) and Heidi's youngest girl Kailey.

Glenn, Uncle Brad, Aunt Dawn, Aunt Nellie (Grandma's baby sister) and Uncle Tubby.

Grandma showing Amy and Jason pictures of Grandpa in the hospital.

Enjoying family time.

Heidi and I worked on a slideshow of Grandpa's life to show at the funeral. I'm not terribly literate when it comes to computers, so we worked on it long into the night and more the following day.

Laura and Jason playing Cribbage with Aunt Nellie. I love Aunt Nellie. She is probably one of the sweetest most thoughtful and funny people you could ever meet.

Amy and Wayne's son (Wayne is Aunt Nellie's son). I can't for my life remember his name, though...

Grandma and Aunt Cherryl compiling pictures for the funeral.

And Kailey entertaining us all and keeping a smile on our faces!

The next morning was busy while we did last-minute prep for the funeral. It was a beautiful service with several touching moments. Honestly, my favorite part was when the Bishop spoke at the end and talked about how he was praying to say what Grandpa would want him to say and the night before the funeral, he woke up in the middle of the night with words coming to his mind. He then went on to talk about how Grandpa would want everyone to know how wonderful Grandma is, what a special lady she is, and how grateful he is for her. I truly believe the Bishop was inspired to say that. Grandpa never did like the lime light and he would have wanted everyone to know how lucky he was and is to have my Grandma in his life. He probably didn't say it often enough, but we all knew how he felt.

After the service, we took Grandpa to the New Smyrna Beach cemetary by funeral procession. I don't think I've ever participated in a procession before and it was nice. People waved and patiently waited for us to pass.

Pall Bearers: Chad, Stephen and Jason Allred with Joshua, Caleb and Jacob Brewer, all grandsons.

Grandma with Aunt Cherryl, Aunt Linda and Uncle Rob.

Amy and Chad

Taking Grandpa to his site.

Grandma and my mom.

Family

Waiting for the dedication of the grave.

Flag ceremony because Grandpa was a Veteran.

After the ceremony--Jacob Brewer, Jason, Stephen and Chad. What handsome guys!

Grandpa's casket was a beautiful silvery blue. Probably the prettiest casket I've ever seen.

After the ceremony at the cemetery, we all drove back to the church building for a potluck put on by the Relief Society. It was open to everyone and it was amazing! Leave it to the deep South to know how to throw a fabulous pot luck dinner.

Grandma had Oreo cookies and Tic Tacs out on each table as a memento to Grandpa. His breakfast of choice was Oreos and whole milk and he was never, ever without a box of Tic Tacs that he would share with all the grandkids.

Table set up to honor Grandpa.

Look how handsome he was!

At the potluck. My family with Heidi Witt, minus my mom.

My Brewer cousins.

Aunt Nellie with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Tubby.

Watching the slideshow of Grandpa's life. We never could find the correct cord to make it play on the TV, but it was nice to have it on the laptop because it could get passed around.

That night we went back to Grandma's house and tried to spend some time with our family, but this is how it ended up:

Around midnight, we called it quits and went to our hotel to sleep for 4 hours before we had to be up and traveling to the airport.

The last great adventure on our way out the door to the airport (at 4:30 a.m.): we got stuck in the elevator at the hotel!

Okay, so we were only stuck for about 5 minutes, but still.

We made it safely to the Orlando airport on time and were able to catch our plane without a problem.

Stephen was only 1 gate away from us as we departed, which was fun. Here we are riding the train to our gate. I remember flying into the Orlando airport as a child and thinking the train was soooo magical and the airport like a dream world with it's stores and fountains. As we were walking to our gate, I still felt a stab of excitement being there. I love that memories will do that to you.

And... this is how we spent both our flights home. 

It was a nice trip. Despite the sad circumstances that brought us together in Florida, it was a lot of fun to be there with so many cousins and people we love so much. 

I was happy to see the boys, though, and rushed to George's parent's house to pick up Jude. He couldn't have cared less that I was there! I mean, I guess I can understand. He really is "King Jude" when he's at Grandmom and Pop Pop's house. I walk in to get him and go to give him a hug and all he does is cuddle up on the couch and say, "Grandmom's house!" and go back to watching his show. :( Thanks, Jude. After I picked up Jude, we drove a bit up the road to meet Lance and Scott on our way and then the boys and I drove down to Charlottesville to be with George. It was good to be home!

I miss my Grandpa already. It's strange to think that he's not here anymore, not with Grandma at their house where he's lived for more than 50 years. He was and is a great man and a wonderful Grandpa. I know he loved me and would do anything to make sure we had what we needed. I love you, Grandpa. I can't wait to see you--when we meet again.

When I get the pictures, I'll post my favorites of Grandpa when he was young.