Last night, while I was off enjoying a small baby shower a couple of friends threw me, John was receiving news that his paternal grandmother passed away. Sadly, she had been ill and suffering for a long time, living a nursing home. The last time John went to visit her, he came back saying that he couldn't do that again, that it was awful. She was unresponsive, just laying in her bed looking at the ceiling. It's difficult to watch someone you love be forced to live out the rest of their lives like that. Grandma Dillier was very important to John, and thankfully, before she got too ill or started loosing her memories, he'd made every effort to maintain a close relationship with her (he was known to just hop in the car and drive up to Idaho where she lived to spend the weekend with her as a surprise, and I was always getting after him saying "you can't just show up for the weekend unannounced, it's rude!" She seemed to love it though, which is why he did it). I think that's all you can do really, make sure that you appreciate the good times with your loved ones while they are still physically and mentally with us. I asked John last night how he was feeling about her death and he replied "I've already been missing her for a long time. Tonight doesn't change that."
I feel lucky that I was able to get to know her a bit myself and she was even able to enjoy Alex as a baby before her mind really began to fail her.
Goodbye Grandma Dillier. I hope now you're able to find some peace.
I just found out about Grandma Dillier through myspace. How Sad? I then navigated over to your flickr page, that Robin had told me about six months ago, hoping to know more. Anyway, my heart is sad. I loved her very very very much. She was an extremely fun grandma. She always had the best food- Lucky charms, shasta soda and frozen Ding Dongs. She was the only connection between my dad and me. She always drove my sister and I in her VW Bug to Pocatello, Idaho to visit him. I love the picture of her holding your son.
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