My Grandpa

I write today with sad news. My Grandpa Gandy passed away this morning at 3:52am. He has been sick for about 4 years with Alzheimer's Disease, which progressively got worse. I'm not complete on the details because my mom called me at 4:15am to let me know. But he wasn't doing well at 9pm last night when she called to wish me a happy soon-to-be Fathers Day. She said he probably didn't have long and she was expecting all of this to happen next week sometime. She got a phone call at midnight saying to come to the nursing home because he wasn't doing well. She got there, saw he was stabilized and sleeping so since she lived only less than 2 miles away, she went on home and was going to come back at 6am. She got the phone call at 4am that he had passed away. All of this, even though we knew he was sick, was very sudden.

I'm guilty of not visiting my grandpa very much over the last few years. I know I should have but it was so hard to see him in that condition. I first noticed it a few years ago when me and some others (I can't remember exactly who) went to my Grandma Gandy's house to go fishing. My grandpa was there and he went with us across the street into a giant open field where there was a few small ponds and the one we called the "Big Pond". My grandpa used to take us to the Big Pond when I was little to go fishing. We always had a blast. He'd bait my hook and I'd throw the bobber out into the pond under the tree and wait until the ravenous perch (at least they seemed that way) would take it under and I'd catch me a big one. When he went with us this last time, it was different. He wasn't the same. He kept on telling us the same 5 stories over and over again, each time not remembering that he had already told us that story. I know the older you get the more you forget, or so it seems. But this was just more than forgetting. It was the early stages of Alzheimer's.

I have a lot of memories of my grandpa playing basketball with me and my brother Terry. We'd have some close games of H-O-R-S-E. And for a man in his 60's, he'd pretty much beat Terry and I most of the time. Haha. When I went to see him last, I asked him if he knew who I was. He looked at me for a minute, then said Yeah, we used to play basketball together. I thought that was one of the most incredible and saddest things in my whole life. He could barely recognize my mom and yet he remembered that he and I used to play basketball together. This disease is so terrible. It is so hard to describe it without getting broken up about it. Thats one of the biggest reasons why I found it so hard to go up there and visit. I know I should have gone as often as I could but in my heart, I wanted to remember the good times we had and how he used to be. He used to call me Jethro. Haha He got that off of the Beverly Hillbillies character, Jethro Bodine, who would knock you over (and sometimes a wall or a door) trying to get to dinner when he heard Granny cry out, "Come and Get it, Vittles'r Ready!". I wasn't that bad when I was younger but I sure did eat like Jethro. Haha

I'm not sure what day the funeral will be held on or where it is going to be at yet. My mom and her sisters and brother are in the process of figuring all of that out. I just wanted to share a few memories I had of Grandpa with you guys. I do not know if he had ever accepted Jesus Christ as his savior but I truly hope that he did. I know that is the most important thing of all but I'm afraid I might not know the answer until I see him in Heaven. I just wish he could have been both physically and mentally here long enough to meet Makenna. Anyway, when we find out the details of the funeral, if any of you would like to go, just post a comment and I'll get back to you. Thanks for listening guys. We'd appreciate your prayers through this tough time.

God bless you all.
Jason