Welcome to Weaver Hollow: My Hero Part3

Adventures in Weaver Hollow

My Hero

Part 3

This post is from my mother's Facebook page my Grandfathers last haircut and trim.

 The not so good news turned out be the worst news I've ever heard in my whole life. It was pancreatic cancer and at this point the doctors were telling us to just keep him as comfortable as possible. To look at him during this time you could tell he was fighting and he was giving it hell. He got to a point where he just stayed in bed. 

   Hospice was called in a couple weeks later because he wasn't eating or keeping fluids down very good. Hospice provided us with a smorgasbord of medications to help with nausea, vomiting, pain, constipation and more. He would try them out but he eventually refused to take them except for one, it helped him with the pain.

   I recall the morning that hospice came and took him in. He was in excruciating pain and the meds weren't working, he described the pain to me as needles prinking him all over. My Aunt and Grandmother were home so they decided that we should call for help. She called hospice and they sent a medical van to transport him. He did not want to leave the house. He didn't want to go. He told me he was coming right back home. We ended up having to help the hospice medics get him on the bed to roll him out. Once outside the got him in the van and drove away my heart sank. As much as I wanted to believe he was coming back I knew deep down that this was it. 

   From that point on things got crazy. We were constantly up at hospice 2 to 3 times a day sometimes more. We just couldn't let him be there with out him knowing that we were there and he did! The show of love and support from our extended family and friends were amazing, bringing food, giving us breaks to shower, rest, or run errands. It was amazing.

    I dont believe he was at hospice very long before we got the phone call. It was May 2nd, I remember I was waiting for everyone to come home for some reason,  my kids an husband were at the house and I called one of my aunts to see what was going on and they said come now. There was no explanation. I remembered grabbing the kids and my husband and we got in the car and my husband drove as fast as he could to get to hospice. 

    I remember arriving there and it felt like everything slowed down. I saw my family coming out of the hospice building crying & screaming. My cousin walked up to me and she said He passed. I completely lost it. I screamed, I remembered falling to my knees at one point that's how hard I took the news. You'd think I would have been better prepared for the news with all that we had been through till that point but I wasn't, none of us were. We all took it hard.

    The whole process of him getting sick, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and being transferred to hospice and passing took 2 months. We didn't have long to prepare ourselves for this.

    The funeral home and the church where his service was held were very nice and the people even nicer. My grandfather knew a ton of people and it was amazing to see the support from them at the service. Even afterwards people still continued to comment to us telling us stories of how my grandfather helped them or how they knew him. He is truly loved and missed by all he came in contact with. He was a beautiful soul, a family man, a father figure, a upstanding man in his home church and community. Even facing death he was at peace. I never saw him show fear it was well with his soul, He had already made his peace with it and God. In his own way he let all of us know to take care of each other and stay close. 

    At his funeral I was honored to deliver a speech where I recited the 23rd psalms, one of his favorite psalms and mine to.

Psalm 23 (KJV)

23 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.

    Rest in Heaven James Oliver Dowell

Part 4 Adventures in Weaver Hollow: The perfect place

Coming soon! Stay tuned😊