~ oh my goodness mom's housecoat is sexy ~

Today is Grandpa Emil's birthday. It's been 10 years since he passed away.

Mom and Dad were at my house when a phone call came, telling us that he was in the hospital on life support, and asking for Mom's agreement to let him go. He wasn't expected to wake up.

When Mom got off the phone she started to cry, with her head on Dad's chest, dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex. He said, "It has to happen sometime." I thought he was invalidating her feelings rather coldly. Now I don't; it helps to see death as less of a tragedy and more a natural occurrence. He was stating the facts. Death is inevitable. It's just a matter of when and how.

After Grandpa died Mom used to wonder why he never visited her or gave her a sign. "I cared for him so much," she told me. One morning she'd been looking in the bathroom mirror while washing, and clearly saw her father looking back at her from within her own face. She laughed at herself, then. He'd been with her all along.

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