...And we cried for him.....
I'm so sorry that this is so long, but for those of you that don't know, my grandfather/ best friend just passed away, and I'm writing this in remembrance of him, so if you would like to read on, thank you so much for caring!!!
His name was Lyle Bond. To most, known as "Pa". A man with a heart of gold.
It was about 9:00 pm on Saturday July 30th of 2005 when me and my mother drove a few miles to my grandparent's home. He was sitting up in his bed, in the bedroom that he and my grandma shared. I sat on the bed next to him and could hear him struggling to fill his lungs. Yet still, while he sat there struggling, he found humor and made me laugh. Always thinking about someone else, never about himself. So he struggled there for a few minutes and then he told me he couldn't breath, so a few minutes passed and the ambulance came. He put on his shoes, and had me carry the cords that connect him to the oxygen machine behind him. He stood up and walked out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs. The EMT's put him on a gurney... That was the last time he would ever be in the house that he had lived in for so many years. The ambulance left, and we followed behind, all the way to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls. He seemed okay in the emergency room, making jokes about how cute the nurses were. Me and my mother had to go pick up my brother from work, so I said goodbye, gave him a hug and a kiss, told him I loved him, and left. Leaving my grandmother there with him. The next couple days, he only got worse, they moved him to ICU. I went again to the hospital to see my Pa. He looked so tired, so tired of struggling. I stayed with him for a while, holding his hand while he lay there on the hospital bed. I had my eyes closed and my head bowed, praying to God to let me bear his pain for just a moment; so he wouldn't have to struggle. Then his legs started to twitch, and pretty soon his whole body was convulsing. The doctors rushed in, and did what they do. I backed away, up against the wall and I cried... I cried for my Pa.
He was such a great person, yes he was. He had touched so many lives. The Hospital even had to move him to a larger room, because so many people were coming to visit him. The room at the end of the hall is where he would spend his last days here with us. The doctor's had him on a bi-pap machine to breath for him. He was conscience but couldn't talk because of the mask over his face. We would talk to him and he would hear us and nod his head. The entire family came into town; Six children all together in order: Mark Bond-Milwaukee, Vicki Cudanin (Bond)- Michigan, Greg Bond- Cancun Mexico, Gina Allen (Bond)- Milwaukee, Jay Bond- Milwaukee, and Rebecca Bond- Arizona. We were all there at the hospital along with my grandmother Mary. Old friends and new friends came and laughed and cried and prayed with him. I know this man was loved!! We practically lived at the Hospital, staying with our family... I must've had 10 cups of coffee from the "free" coffee machine within the span of two days. Then the doctors met with us and told us that we had to make a choice; Pa, was not getting better. We could either keep him on the respirator and have him live out his last days the way he had been living for the past week(they gave him three months to live), or we could let him pass peacefully in an environment where he was surrounded by his family.... We chose the latter. We couldn't let him struggle the way he had been struggling anymore. Just to make sure, my grandmother waited for the morphine to wear off so she could ask the love of her life what he wanted to do... He was ready to rest.
So the doctors took him off of the bi-pap machine and put him on a cannula; a small tube like device that sends air through his nose. We also put him on a morphine-drip IV so that he would be completley sedated so he wouldn't feel any pain. We all said our goodbyes before the morphine took hold, we each had our little last moments with our Pa. I held onto his hand... his skin was so cold, so I wrapped a blanket around him and whispered in his ear that it was "Jordansky" his polish grandson, a few years back we had made a joke together about that. But it was when I whispered Jordansky in his ear that a tear rolled down his face, I kissed him and hugged him and told him to sleep well and dream well, and that I looked forward to when we see each other again. That was my moment with Pa. I will remember it forever.
That night, Pa's church family came to the hospital, they sang songs and swapped stories of the great man who was dieing there infront of them. You could almost see the love flying through the room. We all cried and prayed together. It was beautiful.
It was about one am when his breaths started coming slower. The six children and his wife, and three of the seven grandchildren (including myself) were all there, gathered around his hospital bed. I don't know if anyone else felt it, but I could swear the temperature in the room dropped. I know it in my soul and in my heart no matter what anyone says, that death itself was there in the room with us. I felt its hatred and rage, I felt the sadness and the pain of a thousand souls. We all stayed there for a while, then at about 3:00 am, he took a breath... and we waited and waited to see the next one come, but it didn't. My aunt Rebecca with tears in her eyes weeped, "Mommy, did he go?" My uncle Mark answered, "Yeah sweetie, he's gone." We all weeped and cried and held each other... then a minute and a half later, Pa breathed, he took in another breath. We all stopped and he breathed again, within seconds we were laughing as if Pa had told another one of his jokes. But Pa was always like that, he was such a fighter, and it's as if he said to death itself... "hahaha, you can't get me!!!" We all laughed with tears still in our eyes. We knew that he was close to peace. We knew God would soon call him home. A little later, Pa took another breath and no more came. We waited and waited, we could have waited forever, but not one more breath would come. The nurse came in, checked his heart and slightly nodded her head. And at 3:15 am on August 4th of 2005, my Pa slipped away from us, he passed on and went to sleep. The hardest thing was seeing my grandma let go of the love of her life. she cried " Oh my love, rest well...Goodbye my love, until we meet again." We weeped and weeped, I myself couldn't stop shaking, my hands were trembling and my legs were shaking. I cried out "no" over and over again, because I could feel a part of my heart and soul die along with him. We stayed there like that for a while...we mourned... And we cried for him...
The funeral was today. We will be okay now, because we know that he dosen't have to struggle anymore, he can rest and sleep and feel no more pain. It's funny how something as tragic as this can bring so many people together. The church was crowded with the people who loved my Grandpa. I sang for him at the service, along with my aunt Rebecca who fought back tears as she finished her song. We weeped again- the family that is. Surrounding the casket, we were all in tears again, seeing our Pa for the last time before they closed the casket. Me, my brother, our three Uncles and a family friend carried the coffin out to the hearse. The hardest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. Some Bible verse says this: "When you are young, your parents will carry you, and when they are old and tired, you will carry them." That is exactly what we did, we carried the man that had at one point or another held us all and loved us more than anyone. I said my good-bye to Pa, then they closed the door... not only the door to the hearse, but the door to my love for Pa. He remains now only in the memories that we have of him... A true legend... A loving Father, Beloved Husband, and the best Pa I could have ever asked for... I love you Pa!!!!
Please, anyone who has read this, take my advice for real!!! Life is too short, it is so amazingly short, make the most of every moment you have with your loved ones, because that is what you'll cherish when they're gone.
So Pa, until we meet again, So long and good night, sleep well and dream well and when we meet again on that day when our God comes back, I can't wait to see that beautiful smile of yours and share a joke or two, to see you run and not be weary, to see you breath with no problem at all. So until then simply rest Pa, and know that you are loved...
"Oh death, where is thy sting?"
"The dead in Christ will rise, and we'll meet Him in the air... I can almost see the Father, on a cloud to call his children, at the Midnight Cry, we'll be going home."
~Your Jordansky~
~Jordan~
His name was Lyle Bond. To most, known as "Pa". A man with a heart of gold.
It was about 9:00 pm on Saturday July 30th of 2005 when me and my mother drove a few miles to my grandparent's home. He was sitting up in his bed, in the bedroom that he and my grandma shared. I sat on the bed next to him and could hear him struggling to fill his lungs. Yet still, while he sat there struggling, he found humor and made me laugh. Always thinking about someone else, never about himself. So he struggled there for a few minutes and then he told me he couldn't breath, so a few minutes passed and the ambulance came. He put on his shoes, and had me carry the cords that connect him to the oxygen machine behind him. He stood up and walked out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs. The EMT's put him on a gurney... That was the last time he would ever be in the house that he had lived in for so many years. The ambulance left, and we followed behind, all the way to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls. He seemed okay in the emergency room, making jokes about how cute the nurses were. Me and my mother had to go pick up my brother from work, so I said goodbye, gave him a hug and a kiss, told him I loved him, and left. Leaving my grandmother there with him. The next couple days, he only got worse, they moved him to ICU. I went again to the hospital to see my Pa. He looked so tired, so tired of struggling. I stayed with him for a while, holding his hand while he lay there on the hospital bed. I had my eyes closed and my head bowed, praying to God to let me bear his pain for just a moment; so he wouldn't have to struggle. Then his legs started to twitch, and pretty soon his whole body was convulsing. The doctors rushed in, and did what they do. I backed away, up against the wall and I cried... I cried for my Pa.
He was such a great person, yes he was. He had touched so many lives. The Hospital even had to move him to a larger room, because so many people were coming to visit him. The room at the end of the hall is where he would spend his last days here with us. The doctor's had him on a bi-pap machine to breath for him. He was conscience but couldn't talk because of the mask over his face. We would talk to him and he would hear us and nod his head. The entire family came into town; Six children all together in order: Mark Bond-Milwaukee, Vicki Cudanin (Bond)- Michigan, Greg Bond- Cancun Mexico, Gina Allen (Bond)- Milwaukee, Jay Bond- Milwaukee, and Rebecca Bond- Arizona. We were all there at the hospital along with my grandmother Mary. Old friends and new friends came and laughed and cried and prayed with him. I know this man was loved!! We practically lived at the Hospital, staying with our family... I must've had 10 cups of coffee from the "free" coffee machine within the span of two days. Then the doctors met with us and told us that we had to make a choice; Pa, was not getting better. We could either keep him on the respirator and have him live out his last days the way he had been living for the past week(they gave him three months to live), or we could let him pass peacefully in an environment where he was surrounded by his family.... We chose the latter. We couldn't let him struggle the way he had been struggling anymore. Just to make sure, my grandmother waited for the morphine to wear off so she could ask the love of her life what he wanted to do... He was ready to rest.
So the doctors took him off of the bi-pap machine and put him on a cannula; a small tube like device that sends air through his nose. We also put him on a morphine-drip IV so that he would be completley sedated so he wouldn't feel any pain. We all said our goodbyes before the morphine took hold, we each had our little last moments with our Pa. I held onto his hand... his skin was so cold, so I wrapped a blanket around him and whispered in his ear that it was "Jordansky" his polish grandson, a few years back we had made a joke together about that. But it was when I whispered Jordansky in his ear that a tear rolled down his face, I kissed him and hugged him and told him to sleep well and dream well, and that I looked forward to when we see each other again. That was my moment with Pa. I will remember it forever.
That night, Pa's church family came to the hospital, they sang songs and swapped stories of the great man who was dieing there infront of them. You could almost see the love flying through the room. We all cried and prayed together. It was beautiful.
It was about one am when his breaths started coming slower. The six children and his wife, and three of the seven grandchildren (including myself) were all there, gathered around his hospital bed. I don't know if anyone else felt it, but I could swear the temperature in the room dropped. I know it in my soul and in my heart no matter what anyone says, that death itself was there in the room with us. I felt its hatred and rage, I felt the sadness and the pain of a thousand souls. We all stayed there for a while, then at about 3:00 am, he took a breath... and we waited and waited to see the next one come, but it didn't. My aunt Rebecca with tears in her eyes weeped, "Mommy, did he go?" My uncle Mark answered, "Yeah sweetie, he's gone." We all weeped and cried and held each other... then a minute and a half later, Pa breathed, he took in another breath. We all stopped and he breathed again, within seconds we were laughing as if Pa had told another one of his jokes. But Pa was always like that, he was such a fighter, and it's as if he said to death itself... "hahaha, you can't get me!!!" We all laughed with tears still in our eyes. We knew that he was close to peace. We knew God would soon call him home. A little later, Pa took another breath and no more came. We waited and waited, we could have waited forever, but not one more breath would come. The nurse came in, checked his heart and slightly nodded her head. And at 3:15 am on August 4th of 2005, my Pa slipped away from us, he passed on and went to sleep. The hardest thing was seeing my grandma let go of the love of her life. she cried " Oh my love, rest well...Goodbye my love, until we meet again." We weeped and weeped, I myself couldn't stop shaking, my hands were trembling and my legs were shaking. I cried out "no" over and over again, because I could feel a part of my heart and soul die along with him. We stayed there like that for a while...we mourned... And we cried for him...
The funeral was today. We will be okay now, because we know that he dosen't have to struggle anymore, he can rest and sleep and feel no more pain. It's funny how something as tragic as this can bring so many people together. The church was crowded with the people who loved my Grandpa. I sang for him at the service, along with my aunt Rebecca who fought back tears as she finished her song. We weeped again- the family that is. Surrounding the casket, we were all in tears again, seeing our Pa for the last time before they closed the casket. Me, my brother, our three Uncles and a family friend carried the coffin out to the hearse. The hardest thing I think I've ever had to do in my life. Some Bible verse says this: "When you are young, your parents will carry you, and when they are old and tired, you will carry them." That is exactly what we did, we carried the man that had at one point or another held us all and loved us more than anyone. I said my good-bye to Pa, then they closed the door... not only the door to the hearse, but the door to my love for Pa. He remains now only in the memories that we have of him... A true legend... A loving Father, Beloved Husband, and the best Pa I could have ever asked for... I love you Pa!!!!
Please, anyone who has read this, take my advice for real!!! Life is too short, it is so amazingly short, make the most of every moment you have with your loved ones, because that is what you'll cherish when they're gone.
So Pa, until we meet again, So long and good night, sleep well and dream well and when we meet again on that day when our God comes back, I can't wait to see that beautiful smile of yours and share a joke or two, to see you run and not be weary, to see you breath with no problem at all. So until then simply rest Pa, and know that you are loved...
"Oh death, where is thy sting?"
"The dead in Christ will rise, and we'll meet Him in the air... I can almost see the Father, on a cloud to call his children, at the Midnight Cry, we'll be going home."
~Your Jordansky~
~Jordan~