My Grandfather is Dying

My mom emailed me today and said that from time to time over the past several months Grandpa has had episodes of lightness and heaviness in his chest. These incidents were not painful, but uncomfortable. He has been experiencing symptoms of indigestion occasionally as well, which can be attributed to his heart. It is Grandpa’s wish that there be no medical intervention if he does have any further health problems and as hard as it is to stand by and watch someone suffer, Grandma has promised him that she will honor his request and will only call in re-enforcements if he asks for the help.

Grandpa attends a very small church someplace in Saginaw, Michigan when he feels able to go and the weather safely permits him to do so. When my mom visited with him yesterday afternoon (at home) he said that he was feeling fine when he went to church. He was burdened for his family and just before the pastor was to begin to speak he interrupted the order of the service and asked that they all (about 10 members) pray for his family. He said that he began to share his request and got excited and started to shout (you all may never have really seen him in action, but he can 'really' stomp and shout). The congregation prayed with him and service proceeded. He said it was then that he began to feel the chest pain. He waited until service was done and asked for prayer, telling them that he was having chest pains. Those people were not very smart! They had him come up to the front and stand while they prayed for him. As is typical with a heart attack, he broke out in a cold sweat, felt very weak and had to sit down. They offered him a cold drink of water, thinking it would help which he drank and then promptly threw up. All of these experiences and symptoms are strong indications of a heart attack. They offered to drive him home, but he refused and drove himself home (a very foolish thing to do).

When my mom visited him in the afternoon yesterday he was resting when she arrived, but then said he was feeling much better - no more heaviness or pain, and got up and had coffee with us. My mom remarked that she believes Grandpa will be eighty-three years of age on January 19, 2005 and she says,

God has given him a long life and we do not know what the future holds. Neither he nor Grandma are in the best of health and there is no way for us to know how long they will be with us. Their children and their grandchildren are the pride of their life. They love nothing more than to brag on their family. They love to talk about the accomplishments of their grandchildren, where they are, who they are marrying, what they're doing, and of course, how many they have twenty-seven at last count with a great grandchild on the way.

Please pray that all will be peaceful. Thanks