Goodbye My Friend

I an only begin to explain what the past 5 days have been like. Emotional, sad, exhausted can explain a little of how I feel. On Saturday December 11th my grandfather past away about 10:30am. For days I have thought of what I could say to even give you an idea what happened in South Carolina. No words could ever give you a clear idea of what I experienced unless you yourself have gone through it before. Now that things have calmed down and I can think clearly I will do my best to tell you about the last 12 hours I spent with my Grandpa.

Friday Dec. 10th I received a phone call from Angela that I needed to leave as soon as I could because Grandpa had taken a turn for the worst. Just Wednesday night I spoke to him on the phone and he sounded like the same old Grandpa I knew. His last spoken words to me were "I'll be fine." I soon left worked, came home, and prepared to go to see him. There were a couple of unfortunate events that took place after that actually worked to my favor for me to stay and pick up my sister Jenni at the airport about 9:49pm.

The flight was late and landed about 10:21pm and we hurried and got her luggage and hit the road. It was about 11:30pm when we got on the road and arrived at my grandparents house about 2:00am Saturday morning. My mother, stepdad, and sister Angela were all there along with my grandmother and grandfather.

I stayed up and talked to him for awhile. I sat at the foot of the bed for a good while praying for him and reading the Word. By now his breathing was terrible and his breaths were short. We moved him on his command into a sitting position and then back to a lying position for a two hour period. As I sat beside him I couldn't help but to think of all the wonderful memory's we shared together over the years. I tried to lay down and rest but it was impossible as I could hear Grandpa mown in pain from time to time. At 5:00am I went back to the bed room and just felt there was a change. He was breathing as hard as he could go and the look in his face had changed. My grandmother lay beside him holding his had trying to comfort him. At one point he was saying "Up, Up, Up."My thought on that is he was talking to God and no one else at that moment. My sister then told me to wake my mom and tell that time was short. We took turns holding Grandpa in a sitting position. We never left his side. The dawn came and we all took shifts beside him making sure he was breathing. The next couple of hours he slepted peacefully while my stepdad Ron stayed at his side.


As morning came to many people arrived to visit with Grandpa. Most of them visited with one another in the living room so he could rest. About 10am he awoke and on learning many visitors were there he was able to let us know he wanted to get dressed and go to the living room. It took awhile to get him dressed. As we were getting him dressed and into the wheelchair he really started to have trouble breathing. It was really hard getting him into the wheelchair. It took about four of us to do so. The next few minutes still ring out like an eternity in my mind. As we wheeled him down the hall his life started to transfer itself out of his body. As we came into the living room and stopped in front of all the family and friends, he took his last breathe and past away.

To stand beside someone and watch their spirit leave there body was amazing. I cant even describe what it is like. We cried and mourned the rest of that Saturday. We were greeted by old friends who had rushed to get their just to talk to Grandpa, however many didn't make it in time. The saddest part was that very Saturday we were to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Much of the food was brought to the house. Even the wedding cake that was made. Sunday Angela and I traveled home to see our families and to prepare to go back for the funeral.

After a long Monday morning at TEEACH Beth and I dropped Christian off at Andrew's to stay the night and we headed back to SC. We arrived around 8pm. We checked into the hotel and changed then right back out for the viewing. Afterward we headed back to Granny's and ate and visited the retired back to the hotel. Tuesday morning we got ready for the funeral which was at 11am. The service was wonderful. We then traveled to the cemetery for the final resting place. We were met by 7 state guards(retired) who saluted the casket draped with the American flag. I was honored to watch the guard fold the flag and hand it to my grandmother at the end of the service.

My grandfather meant so much to my mom, her brothers, and especially my grandmother. He joined his daughter Carol who past away in the early 1970's at age 21. What a homecoming that must have been. He finally is in the presence of the man he had preached about most of his adult life, Jesus. I want to say thank you to my wife Beth for her support. Without her by my side this would have been so hard. To my stepdad Ron for just being so supportive of my mom. You are a wonderful person. And to my brother in law Tim who drove 10 hours with 3 kids just so that Jenni wouldn't have to go home and could stay and visit with Granny and Mom.

Thank you if you have came to read this to stay informed about what has been going on. I will say I am sad. I am only sad because I would't be able to hear his voice. I believe that he is in a better place. Heaven. I have no doubt. I am worried about my Granny. Grandpa was her best friend. They loved each other so much. If you wanted to send her a card then just just email me and I will be glad to give you her address. Thank you to all who have prayed for us. I feel covered by your love. And that is The World According to Thad