Pickles by Brian Crane for April 20, 2013

Luckily I was automatically out of town when my maternal grandfather passed away (I live in Washington and he lived in Arizona).

I watched my father die in the hospital. It’s somethinga person never forgets.

@ Afficionado & Llewelyn: As have I. It was the reverse of Orinoco’s way of life, though. Dad was home until almost the end then moved to a rehab/nursing center (not a hospital). They did a great job of making him comfortable.

You’ll still have to come back for the funeral Nelson.

I know how you feel I was there when my 25yr old son died god bless him

I recall that when I was a kid, I hated being left alone with my eighty something grandpa, because I was afraid he’d die on me.

I was living in Dallas, Mom in Montreal.

Bless you.

thank God and Grandpa for small favors

I want to die in my sleep, like my grandpa; not screaming and crying like the other five people in the car he was driving down the highway.

I was there when my dad died and it was hard, but good. I saw my step mom just a few hours before she died on Christmas Eve which was three weeks after my dad passed.

I was holding my husband’s hand as he left this world. I fed my Dad his last meal and stayed with him till the ICU staff told me to go home- his doctor came to our home to tell my Mother that Dad had slipped into a coma and then was gone.My mom died after many strokes, I was with her on her day of death.My grandfather died when i was 11, my mother would not let me go to his services. Mr Gram died when I was in my thirties, I was stationed in Italy and could not go home for the services.

My hubby had hospice care here at home. I was in another room when he died though. I had someone here with him who wanted to be with him at that time and she came to the room I was in and told me that she thought he wasn’t breathing anymore.

When I was a young lad, I didn’t realize that my 80+ grandmother was preparing me for her death by saying, “if I live another year, I’ll ____.”

Its a pain that never goes away my heart feels so heavy with the loss of him lets hope we meet up again ,