A time to mourn...

On Monday, the 21st of June, 2010, my grandpa Robert Hammond passed away. He had been diagnosed with ALS for about 7 years, and that gradually weakened him, but it was emphysema that he actually passed away from. He went into the hospital on Father's Day, after he had passed out at his house. When we made it to the hospital he was mostly incoherent, although he did acknowledge a few people by lifting his head and looking at them while they talked. It came as kind of a shock to us to see him like that. He had been in and out of the hospital for the past two months with pneumonia, but he had always looked fine. He had to wear a Bi PAP machine the whole time and it made him hard to understand. By the end of the evening, he was able to talk with us a little. We sang to him, and we were able to wish him a Happy Father's Day, and tell him that we loved him. He was able to tell us that he loved us back. We left that night to come home and milk, but Dad didn't get home until late. The next morning, Monday, Dad went to the hospital to be with Poppy and we were going to head up there after feeding and chores, but Dad called us and told us that Poppy had passed away peacefully about a half hour after he had gotten there. We had all been praying that it would be a peaceful passing, because with the lung failure it could have been really hard. It was an answer to our prayers.

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"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ...a time to gain, and a time to lose." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a, 4, 6a

We know that although he is lost to us, he is found in Jesus and someday we will see him again in heaven. He is at peace now. He no longer has to struggle and suffer. We will miss him, but we know that he is in a much better place. "For to me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain...For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." ~Philippians 1:21,23

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Our family would like to thank everyone for all their prayers, their cards and little notes of encouragement, all the meals that were brought our way, and everything that was done to make it easier for us. It was wonderful not to have to worry about cooking during that time. Everything was greatly appreciated, not only by us, but by all our extended family also.