A Man to Remember
My grandfather, Pépère, suffered a stroke just before Thanksgiving last year. Up to that point he was perfectly fine, well about as fine as an 87 year old can be. He had minor issues with his knee and blood sugars and such but he lived a normal life with my grandmother in their condo in Jacksonville. After his stroke his health went downhill fast.
Mentaly he was suffering, he couldn't remember people's names and he thought things that happened 10-20 years ago were going on today. His kidneys stopped functioning properly and a growth was found on his liver. Because of his age and his mental state my aunts and uncles (my grandparents had 7 children) decided not to test the growth because no treatment would be preformed. At this point Pépère wouldn't understand and it would only be torture to him. We didn't have any clue what the time frame was that we were looking at but we knew things weren't going to get better. Just a few weeks ago my sister, Janell, and I with our husbands went up to Jacksonville to see Pépère in the treatment center he was in. He had moments of clarity but also many moments where we didn't know what he was talking about. At the time, I was hoping that it wouldn't be the last time I saw him but I also knew that it probably would be. It was hard hugging him goodbye that one last time especially since we weren't leaving him at home but rather in the treatment center. This evening I got a call from my 
dad who told me that Pépère had passed away this afternoon. Even though it was half expected it still shocked me and made me really sad. Thankfully it was during Life Group so everyone stopped what we were doing and took turns praying for my family during this time. I was in tears but everyone's prayers helped bring me peace. I praise God that Pépère's suffering is over, he is no longer in physical pain and he is no longer confused, disoriented or depressed. I have a lot of fond memories of Pépère, it was obvious that he enjoyed his grandchildren and when we had children of our own he enjoyed his great grandchildren. I remember going up when Abbi was just barely walking, Pépère had a great time just walking around the lake and letting the girls feed the ducks cheerios. He would have been happy if we had stayed there all day just so he could enjoy them. Pépère was a great man, kind hearted, cheerful, and full of life. He will most definitely be missed by many. God rest his soul.
posted by We are the Taylors @ 9:51 PM
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