My grandpa- my very last grandpa- is very sick.
He has stage four cancer and at this point, it is inoperable, it is in his very bones. Not even chemo will help now. The doctors are just medicating for the pain.
He has already been through so much in his life. When my mom and dad first met, my grandpa and grandma were long range truck drivers. Soon after my parents married, my grandpa rolled his rig. The second time I saw him he was comatose in a hospital bed. My sister Rosie could not even bear to enter the room. At that point, I had not even called him grandpa yet. When he emerged from the coma, he had to confront the fact that his entire left side was paralyzed. His life completly changed for the better, or so I've been told.
I always knew him as the grandpa with the sweet tooth who was forever slipping you some candy. His favorite time of year is Easter. He is a proud cast member of the massive passion "The Master Mender" which draws huge crowds from all over the state of Utah each year. Both he and my grandma are pillars of thier church and thier life's revolve around that center. My grandma recently quit driving bus for the private school so she could attend to his needs. This was met with a strong protest from him, but she insisted that she just couldnt randomly call in when he had a doctors appointment. They would need someone reliable everyday.
Both of them accepted new grandkids with open arms. I officially adopted their last name in fifth grade in order to be the first one in the lunch line and I have used it without incident ever since. When I got my drivers license a baptism certificate was considered proper identification if you could not produce a birth certificate.
Going with my sisters recent sentiment of "if you feel it, say it" I sent him a heartfelt email last week. Today I received a handwritten letter from Grandma. Today it is all sinking in.
I will always remember them taking me in when my mother was at the height of her craziness. Grandpa hooking up my first stereo and introducing me to the beauty of Richard Bach via Jonathan Living Seagull.
"The bond that links your trus family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof."