Very early yesterday morning, my grandmother found that my grandfather had died in his sleep. She called an ambulance and they determined that he probably had died around 10:30 the previous night. Everyone is stunned by how sudden this was…he wasn’t ill. He had driven to NC with a good friend of his to pick up a cello for my grandmother that day and then I think they went to lunch. And in the evening he went to a robotics team meeting. Everyone says that to die without suffering is the best way to go, though my grandmother amended that it makes it so much harder for everyone else. It leaves no time to say goodbye or thank you or countless other things I wish I could be sure that he knew. The people who spent time with him that day couldn’t imagine that he had really passed away. I don’t think anyone really could.
He was an amazing person, a real inspiration. He came from a modest background, worked hard in school, became a mathematician, a parent, and the most awesome grandfather (and great grandfather) we could have asked for. He had an endless supply of jokes and stories and he could even make even the most mundane things fun. He was a very kind and thoughtful person. He was always collecting magazines with articles that he thought would interest friends or family members. He liked chili a la mode and could almost never refuse any kind of sweets. He didn’t want us to endure any hardships and did his best to help us in any way he could. He was always there for us. He probably wouldn’t want everyone to be so sad, but I can’t imagine anyone not being devastated by the parting of such a wonderful person.
He loved to travel and loved learning new things. He always seemed to have some kind of mathematical proof he was working on. He also liked teaching people. Even when we were little, he’d give us brain teasers to puzzle over. He also loved to play piano. He played ragtime, and it was his routine to play before bed. He always marveled over how good of a pianist his brother is, but never admitted that he was good too. He liked clementines. And to spoil us when we were little.
One time my grandparents took Naomi and me up to Wonder Lake, Illinois to visit my grandmother’s parents. My great grandmother had made asparagus soup before we got there. Even with more people in the house, after days of having asparagus soup, asparagus soup sandwiches, etc. there were still a few servings left, and everyone but Grandpa, Naomi, and me went somewhere for the evening. We were instructed to finish the soup, but Grandpa felt sorry for us. We were left without a car, but Grandpa wanted to take us out to a restaurant so we just started walking. We didn’t know where the nearest restaurant was, but we walked down a road until we got to a convenience store that was probably a mile or so away. They told us that there was a restaurant down the opposite way that we had come, so we ended up walking several miles that evening just to have dinner that didn’t have asparagus in it.
When my grandparents took Theresa and me to Europe, we went on a canal tour in Amsterdam. Theresa and I were sitting opposite of my grandparents on the boat (with a table in between us). Theresa was really sleepy and Grandma was openly annoyed by how Theresa was falling asleep in front of us. Grandma never noticed that Grandpa was nodding off beside her. He’d look at me, smirk, and close his eyes again.
Yesterday after work, Naomi, Suzanne, Mauricio and I drove up to SC to visit Grandma and my dad. I wish that Theresa had been with us, though she drove up today and is staying the weekend. I can’t imagine how it’d have felt to not be with family yesterday. Visiting Grandma and my dad didn’t make it anymore ok for him to be gone, but after looking at all the pictures of his life and his family, it was a little easier to accept (or to at least stop crying for a little bit).
I wish Paloma and Junior could have known him as well as us (though I still wish we had known him better). I hope he always knew how dear he was to us and how much he was loved by everyone.
