主は私の羊飼いである (The Lord Is My Shepherd)
My grandmother outlived her husband, three sons, a daughter, and all of her friends. She survived cancer thrice, a stroke, heart surgery, pneumonia, temporary dimentia, and a broken hip. But after being cheated for so long, death finally caught up with her.
Two Saturday's ago my grandmother fell. It wasn't an ordinary fall; she fell off the back porch of my Uncle's home. Funny enough, she was on her way to a funeral. As the story goes, my uncle's dog, an ultra sweet pit-bull named Nickel, bolted out the back door and startled my grandma. Without her cane or walker to support her, she took a nasty eight foot spill. While that kind of fall would moderately injure a normal person, for a 92 year old it's equal to being throw off the roof top of the Empire State Building. She broke both her legs, her pelvis, her left shoulder, and several ribs...but she survived. And though she was doped on pain medication when I went to see her in the ICU after her fall, she was talking about getting out of the hospital and how much she loved everyone. Little did I know, that'd be the last time I'd actually get to talk to her.
Two days ago I went to my uncle's house to join a little cook-out he was supposed to be throwing. When I got there, he was no where to be found. His wife, Allison's, daughter, Britney let me in, and I chilled in the living room with the dog until I got a call from my uncle. He said he was still at the hospital with grandma and that she was about to undergo emergency surgery to remove a blockage that wasn't allowing her to eat. So I and a few friends of the family went over to the hospital and sat around in the OR waiting room. The mood was light. Everyone was telling stories about grandma and imagining what would happen when she recovered. Then the surgeon came out and asked to speak with my uncle. I knew then and there that the jig was up. When the surgeon comes out in a middle of a surgery and asks to talk to one person in private, it's never to deliver any good news. My suspicions were confirmed when my uncle came back with tears in his eyes and said that there was nothing they could do to save her.
They brought grandma out of the operating room she was in and back to her place in the ICU. Everyone gathered around her bed to say their final goodbyes. Many a tear was shed, as were more stories. Suddenly grandma's heart rate dropped; then she stopped breathing. And just like that she was gone.
I don't even know how to tell my father.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.