"I Wanna Go Home!"

This will be my last "catch-up" post for the evening. Perhaps the writing of this post is why it has taken me so long to update...

Per my previous post, we all saw Pawpaw on Friday, Dec. 26th. When Dad and Uncle Bill took him back to the VA nursing home, they told him that his residence there was probably going to become a permanent thing. They were already scheduled to meet with the directors there about permanent residence the following week. Pawpaw seemed to understand - although, he was so confused recently that who knows how long he remembered that or how well it even computed.

On Sunday, Dec. 28th, he was admitted to the hospital with some breathing issues. My dad was not able to make it up to see him that day, but had planned to go on Monday if he was not better. The nurse told Dad on Monday that he was doing better, and they were planning to release him on Tuesday. So, Dad decided to hold off on his visit until the following day when they were scheduled to meet with the nursing home director.

All Monday night, Pawpaw told the nurse, "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" At 6:44 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30th, he sat up in bed, breathed his last breath on earth and entered heaven's glory - his eternal Home.

Pawpaw lived a long, fulfilling life; he was 83 when he died. He had been married to Mawmaw for 53 years when she died in Jan. of 2003. He had two sons - my father, Gary, and my uncle, Bill - who are both ministers. He had six grandchildren: me, my sister-Charity, my brother-Sam, and our cousins - Jason, Angela and Melissa. And, he met two of his great-grandchildren: my boys, Nathan and Elijah.

My brother wondered why he had to die this year; why not next year? You see, Sam will marry his sweetheart, Megan, this November, and he will have only one set of grandparents present at the wedding. I remember asking the same question when Mawmaw died. My Nathan, her first great-grandchild, arrived one year later. Yeah, there's a lot they will miss...I am the only grandchild with children; my sister and I are the only two who are married. My youngest cousin is only 13!!! But, I like to think (whether it's true or not, I don't know) that they aren't missing ANYTHING; rather, they have the greatest seat in the house!

We buried Pawpaw on Friday, Jan. 2nd, my 30th birthday. My family asked if that was okay, and I realized...how appropriate for him to be buried on the 30th anniversary of him becoming "Pawpaw." It was hard, but it also seemed right. My dad and uncle performed the ceremony; they'd have it no other way. I did a power point of his life to Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace: My Chains are Gone." Indeed, Pawpaw is now free!

The funeral was much harder than I expected. It wasn't so much Pawpaw's death, in and of itself, that bothered me. It was the fact that I no longer had ANY grandparents living on that side. It was like a whole chapter of my life was ending, and I wasn't prepared. Growing up, we spent a lot of time with the Taylors - they kept us when Mom and Dad went on trips and had us over "just because." When my brother was born 7 weeks early, my mom could not get him out of the house for 3 months. That summer, my grandparents took my sister and I to San Marcus on vacation. When Mom was in and out of the hospital before Sam was born, we often stayed with Mawmaw and Pawpaw Taylor. THAT'S the kind of grandparents they were; they were a stability to us, in good times and bad. I just never dreamed they would both be gone so soon from my life.

So, there you have it...the reason this blog has been delayed...I just didn't feel like typing it all out and dealing with it all over again. But, now it's done and I can move on! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I know it was long...

In case you can't tell...we're sitting at a table outside covered with rocks...but they weren't really rocks; they were cookies...heck, that's why I'm blowing on them! Yeah, the family loves this photo; I'll NEVER live it down!

They've got the best seats in the house now.

Clarinel "Mawmaw" Taylor, 1931 - 2003

Joe "Pawpaw" Taylor, 1925 - 2008

He made it to two of his grandchildren's weddings - mine and my sister's.
The only complete 4 Generations picture we ever got: me holding Nathan, Pawpaw, my dad holding Elijah (Jan. 2007)

He was laid to rest with military honors for his time spent as a POW in WWII. Goodbye, Pawpaw...