My Grandpa will be with Jesus soon

Hi friends,

My mom’s Dad, 91, will be with Jesus soon. Although in one sense that is not a surprise due to his age, what has been surprising is how quickly he’s gone from functional to dying. As recently as Thursday (3 days ago) he was basically “normal”. He’s had back pain for a number of years, which has gradually been getting worse slowly over the years. During the past few weeks, the back pain has been getting worse substantially more quickly, which has been very baffling. He went through a series of pain medicines which didn’t help the pain until now, starting Friday, he has been bedridden and on morphine. The morphine does help the pain but it has side effects. This morning we got a call that his lungs are filling with fluid and he’s running a temperature.

We went over and spent several hours and it looks like Dad will spend the night with him. There were several poignant moments which I hope to write about in more detail later. Grandpa (when he was awake, which was not a whole lot of the time – the morphine makes him drowsy) recognized us, could talk just a little, and was happier than I have seen him in years. I mean that. It was really kind of surreal. When awake, he seemed to me almost glowing with joy at the thought of going to be with Jesus (and Grandma). We sang him some hymns, prayed, cried, and read Scripture aloud.

Praise the Lord that:

o Dad and I were not in jail this Sunday. Normally we go into the jail the 2^nd Sunday of every month, but we just changed our schedule starting this month to the 3^rd Sunday.

o Grandpa has not gone through a protracted stay in bed. He is relatively comfortable and if you’re going to die (which all of us will, unless Jesus comes back before then) this is not a bad way to go. He’s in an assisted living facility and not in the hospital.

Prayer requests:

• Being in the facility where Grandpa is being cared for is very tough for Mom’s chemical allergies. She wants very badly to be with her Dad to assist as much as she can, but due to all the fragrances and chemicals in use, it will take a toll on her. She was in there for about 4½ hours today (which is a really long time for her) and will doubtless be going back at some point. (We’re still figuring out the timing of all that.)
• Mom’s brother and sister who will be coming in from out of state.
• That we will be a witness to the other elderly people and caregivers in the facility. Hopefully they will see something in the way Grandpa dies and in the way we handle it that is different from what they see in non-Christians.
• Wisdom in making last minute decisions that may arise about Grandpa’s care.

Thank you friends!

Daniel