My Grampa on my Dad’s side is 90 or close to it, maybe even in his early 90’s, honestly I am not quite sure his age but I am quite sure that he is at an age where he should be sitting back, relaxing and enjoying these last years of his life. While I will be super sad when my Grampa does pass because I love him dearly, he has lived a super long life and done so much. My Grampa is the one who taught me how to play solitaire and even took out the little kids section of the Sunday newspaper each year, well into my teen years because that was his habit to do so for me.
While I love my Grampa dearly, he is getting older. The visits to the hospital are happening every so often and honestly there isn’t much left to do except keep him comfortable and know that his time may be coming. I just wish my stubborn farming Grampa would relax a bit, then I think about it, he has spent his life farming so to not farm would probably not work well for his stubborn nature. I love that my family has the stubborn trait, but I think if I were his age I would be happy to finally just relax, enjoy the down time I didn’t have much of in my younger years. Not my Grampa, he still gets up and drives and even works on the farm here and there.
Relatives getting older is just a matter of life, it happens, not that it makes it any easier to handle. It is an emotional time when your elders get to the age of my Grampa and need extra care or should simply be utilizing caregiver services instead of working the farm like he does. There is no telling your elders what to do, they are their own person and I do believe being on the farm makes my Grampa happy, so that is what he does. Grampa was in the hospital again, last I heard, he had another heart attack, his sugar was through the roof and so here I sit just waiting for another update.
Of course this post was written just as a found out, but probably will go live on site after I get another update about him. It is sad watching our elders grow, but it’s happy knowing that they have lived a long life and that there is care out there for them to have as they get older.
It’s really hard. My Grandpa just turned 84 and he has bone cancer. During our last phone conversation, he told me he knew he didn’t have long left. He is the last grandparent I have left, and I was born with all my grandparents and great-grandparents except one great-grandfather. So through the years they’ve all gone on, as has my father, leaving my son with only my mother and my grandpa on my side of the family, and he’s only seen them a dozen times or so in his 11 years, if that.
My great-grandfather lived to be 99. 🙂 I hope the report for your grandpa comes back with good news.