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The cancer came quickly. We found out in the middle of May, and by June 24th he was gone. I suppose in most people's eyes, that's not a very long time to "suffer" from cancer. but my family and I beg to differ. Watching someone die of cancer is the most horrible thing I have ever been through, and I have done it twice this year. Needless to say, I don't care to do it ever again. I'll have to say though, I think my family did really well. We came out knowing that death is a part of life. It's going to happen sooner or later, and as long as one is prepared, there is no fear in it.
We have plenty of good memories to cling to. Times when Grandpa put on a funny hat to make us laugh, or took us out for ice-cream, or, for his granddaughters, when he reminded us of how beautiful he thought we were. I choose to remember those moments, above all.
His funeral was yesterday, at 11 in the morning. Grandpa had been a proud NAVY man. He had enlisted when he was 21, and served in the Phillipines during the Korean War. He was in the construction brigade, they called themselves the Seabees. I sat in my seat, in the front row and listened to the soloist sing the NAVY Hymn. Then I watched closely as the Color Guard marched up the aisle and carefully folded the American Flag that had been placed over his closed casket. The tears welled up in my eyes as they did so. They did not spill over until the soldiers turned, presented my Grandmother with the flag, and saluted her. As she stared at the neatly folded flag in her lap, I noticed how tired she looked, and I cried for her. The tears spilled over, and my family and I mourned together in that moment. There was not a dry eye to be found. As I watched my grandmother hold my grandfather's flag, Taps began to play, the military's call to "Exstinguish Lights". As the soldier spoke the call, "All is well, " I believed that it would be. Eventually, just not today.
