I'll be seeing you
Almost 10 years ago my Mom-mom passed away from terminal cancer. It was messy and painful and heartbreaking. I was 15 and it was my first experience with death and I didn't know how to deal with a loss like that. My mother was so devastated that day that she handed me all my grandmothers medications and told me to flush them down the toilet without a second thought. Good thing I was such a good kid, because I flushed every single one. The painpills, the nausea meds, the muscle relaxers, the marijuana pills... individually signed (which she never took). I watched the rainbow of pills swirl slowly toward oblivion and pushed the few remaining ones that stuck in the bottom down with the toilet brush. I'm not sure that at 25 I would have been so honest as to flush all those pills, now realizing now how much money they could have brought. A year later I was still struggling with her death when I had a dream that felt so real that I still swear it was more reality then dream. I remember that I talked to my Mom-mom for a very long time, but I could never remember what we talked about and the next morning I woke up and my soul was at peace.
The event of my grandmother's death has shaped the way that I view death, but with my Pop-pop's death I feel it has shaped the way that I view life. My grandfather died on the morning of Thursday, September 4, 2008. He passed away with his wife by his side (my stepgrandma), his two children and their spouses, his two grandchildren, his wifes children and spouses, and their kids. We all were around his bed. I held his hand and we sang to him as he gently stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. He felt no pain and he knew he was not alone and was greatly loved. I'm sad for the loss of him but happy for the full life he led and all the lives he touched. I know he's safe now with my grandmother. I can only hope to be half the amazing person he was, but it has opened my eyes to what is truly important in life and what seems so important now will not always seem so important.
RIP Pop-pop, I'll be seeing you soon - Mike Collura 1925-2008
The event of my grandmother's death has shaped the way that I view death, but with my Pop-pop's death I feel it has shaped the way that I view life. My grandfather died on the morning of Thursday, September 4, 2008. He passed away with his wife by his side (my stepgrandma), his two children and their spouses, his two grandchildren, his wifes children and spouses, and their kids. We all were around his bed. I held his hand and we sang to him as he gently stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. He felt no pain and he knew he was not alone and was greatly loved. I'm sad for the loss of him but happy for the full life he led and all the lives he touched. I know he's safe now with my grandmother. I can only hope to be half the amazing person he was, but it has opened my eyes to what is truly important in life and what seems so important now will not always seem so important.
RIP Pop-pop, I'll be seeing you soon - Mike Collura 1925-2008