Good Bye to a Great Grandma

I got an email yesterday from my dad. I had to wait until later to call him back because he said that they would be at the hospital until ten last night.

The email said that around 1 a.m. my Grandma Barnes was taken to hospital by ambulance, then taken into surgery for a ruptured colon. They had her under the knife for over 2.5 hours. When I finally spoke with my dad, he stated that the doctors had to open her up & clean out her abdomen of all of the waste that had leaked from the rupture. She was in pretty rough shape & they gave her morphine for the pain & a ventilator to help her breathing.

He also said that all three of my aunts have gathered in Hammond & they & my father are taking shifts sitting with their mom, my grandmother.

Earlier today I spoke with my dad & thing were looking grey. She now was unresponsive & not looking like things were going to get any better. The family was discussing what steps would be taken next, and what options were, well, optional.

So after that I sort of became a zombie of sorts. I just had tore down a show in four hours that took more than three days to setup, finishing off an eighteen hour day. Found out my Grandma had been rushed to the ER. My longest span of sleep in the last three days clocks in at around four hours. And it really was a problem trying to figure what my emotional & physical demeanor was being caused by. I pretty much floated through the day attempting to do something but accomplishing nothing.

Then I decided to hop on my scooter. {Oh yeah, by the way I have a scooter now} and go for a ride into the city to clear my head. I was pulling on my helmet when my phone rang. I looked at the screen & it was my dads cell phone. I sort of hesitated answering knowing what information might be awaiting my push of the 'ok' button.

I answered it & said hi to my dad.

There was a pause before I heard a voice over the background noise. My father then spoke. He said that about five minutes ago, {approx. 3:30 p.m.}, my Grandmother had passed away. They disconnected the ventilator & other equipment once everyone, {my dad & my 3 aunts}, had gathered with the minister. A few moments had passed, then she was gone.

All I could do was stand there in the middle of the driveway & reply in one, two, or three syllable sentences. I don't remember much else of the conversation other telling each other I love you, & good bye.

I hung up the phone, turned around, and it started to rain.

So now I look at the clock after trying to write this & it is a new day. I made my reservations to fly out of Omaha on Saturday to Midway in Chicago. The viewing will be Sunday, the funeral on Monday, I fly back on Tuesday, then go back to work on Wednesday.

Right now however, I'm going to try to get some sleep

Blessed Be, and all that