He has since passed.
A month to the day after I wrote that blog post.
To say it was intense would be an understatement.
We sat by his bed for a week, seeing his diminishing body fight against the inevitable.
Whenever nobody was around I would talk to him, update him on my plans for the future, on what was going on around him, and reminisce about precious moments we shared, and stories he told me.
He lay there, still, sleeping, fighting with his every breath.
It was a week of goodbyes.
He had one instance of clarity a few days before he passed away; on an instance when my aunt told him again that I had come to visit, he suddenly opened his eyes, smiled and reached out for me. I cuddled him, gave him a kiss and immediately called the rest of the family. We then had a very special few minutes together, where everybody talked to him in turns to let him know they were there. It was beautiful, excruciating and very emotional, but we all fought against the tears because we wanted it to be a happy moment for him. After that he slipped into a coma, that got deeper and deeper as the days progressed.
Then....his breathing stopped.
He was gone
I've always thought he was an amazing person, not just because he was my grandfather, but because he had a way of touching people's hearts.
Everybody loved him.
It was never more apparent than at his funeral, where people he had known years before came to pay their respects, alongside family and friends. The stories they told were as beautiful as he had been.
As he still is.
If he knew I've devoted several posts to him he'd chuckle, wave it away and say "Ah, but why would you want to do that? Nobody wants to know about me, I just did what I felt was right."
Yes, you did, abuelo.
And for that, I will be eternally grateful.
I might share some of his stories with you sometime, they are truly remarkable, but for now I just want to say:
Much love, for ever and ever and ever.....
(took this picture the day of his funeral)
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