We'll see you again, Grandpa Schuler

The past 3 weeks are a bit of a blur. You know what they say, when it rains it pours. Well, I think I can say of the past 3 weeks when it rains, it hails.

My parents left for a 2 week vacation for Israel to visit my brother and his family that live there. They had just moved my Grandpa Schuler into a nursing home as he was requiring more care, but health-wise he was doing fine. With me being the only "Brough child" left in Faribault, I told my mom that I would take good care of my Grandpa with frequent visits and phone calls.

We visited at least once a day. It was tough to take the kids to the nursing home with how excited and wild they get to see Grandpa Schuler and running around like kids do, but we knew it was important to see Grandpa. The first few days of my parents being gone he was fine. But after a few days, he started going downhill... fast. He quit eating completely and refused his pills. He had lost the will to live... he wanted to be reunited with my grandma who died last March.

The nursing home has a "hospice room" in their facility where they put residents who are approaching death. They decided the middle of that week that my Grandpa was going to be moved to that room. It's a private room, so the patient receives more care, and family can have more personal visits.

That next week-end (my parents had no been gone a week at this point) my 2 uncles from Colorado came up for a visit. They were able to spend a lot of time with their father. He was spending most of his time in a wheelchair or in bed, but the change of company was good for him. I am sure he was getting a little tired of just seeing my face for almost a week. :) I struggled to let them go back home to Colorado on Sunday. I wanted them to stay, but the nurses still thought he had some time left. I just had a feeling that he didn't.

That next week, things changed very quickly. He was sleeping most of the day in his bed. He was becoming less responsive each day. He was struggling to swallow, even a small amount of liquid. On Tuesday afternoon I had a meeting with the hospice nurse and a few other people, and they gave him less than 2 weeks. I called my parents, and they decided to stay in Israel. Hospice thought that he would still be around once they arrived home, plus my mom has spent 1 1/2 - 2 hours with grandpa each & every day. Grandpa knew how much my mom loved him. She took great care of him.

The very next morning (Wednesday March 2nd) I got a call at 7:45 am from the nursing home nurse, saying my grandpa wasn't doing well. His body was showing obvious signs of him preparing to die. I was supposed to work that day, which ended up being great b/c the kids were at daycare. I immediately left to go sit by grandpa's side. I made phone calls to his 3 children. The 2 boys from Colorado left immediately to try to make it to say good-bye. I called my mom and let her say good-bye over the phone. I called my sister and asked her to come up from Iowa to be with me. She had to pack and drive 2 1/2 hours, so I called Keith's sister who lives in Faribault to come sit with me, too. I didn't want to be alone, but I also wanted my grandfather to be surrounded by people who he loved, and who loved him.

My sister got there around noon. We had no idea how long it would be, but knew it would be soon. We spent the day thanking Grandpa for being a wonderful father and grandfather. We told him we loved him. We held his hand. We asked him to tell Grandma "hi" once he entered Heaven.

In the past couple of months I have spent a lot of time reading the Bible to him. He wasn't able to read it himself anymore, but my grandfather was a very Godly man who loved his Bible. At about 4:40pm that day, I grabbed the Bible and started reading Psalm 23 to him.

1:The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2:He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3:He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4:Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5:Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6:Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Less than a minute after I finished reading this passage, my grandpa took his last breath. He was finally reunited with my grandma. He was finally with Jesus.

When I returned home that evening, I told Carsen that Grandpa Schuler went to Heaven. Carsen looked at me with 2 very sad eyes and said that he was "sad that he wasn't going to get to visit Grandpa Schuler anymore". Then he asked "could we go to Heaven to see him and Grandma". Carsen just turned 4, so I am hopeful that he will keep some of the memories that he has. Even this morning Carsen said that he wished that he could go see Grandpa Schuler today. I told him I wished that we could, too.

I miss my Grandpa. I'm sad that my kids won't grow up with him in their lives. I will miss his gentleness, kindness and sense of humor. Ever since my Grandma died, my Grandpa has talked a lot about Heaven. He was ready to go. He wanted to go. Grandpa isn't in anymore pain. He doesn't have anymore sadness. He's exactly where he should be. Because Grandpa is in Heaven, we know we will see him again someday.

We celebrated the life of Grandpa Schuler this past week with family, friends and services. I have so many good memories of him. Sitting by his side as he took his last breaths was hard and emotional, but it was a true honor. We do things out of our comfort zone for family. We do things that we normally wouldn't for the people we love. And let me tell you... my heart is filled with a lot of love for my Grandpa Schuler.