Grandma St. Clair

We got another call from Mom on Thursday evening, 9/27 indicating that she was not doing too well. They did not keep her at the hospital overnight because they basically said there wasn't much they could do for her. They could keep her there to run a bunch of tests like they always do, but it really wasn't going to help. So,they brought her back home and Mom said it wasn't only going to be a matter of time. She lives with my Aunt Shirley, so she has been and will continue to be in good hands!

Mom said she was going to have lunch with them on Friday 9/28 like they always do, so I called about 2:30 to see how she was doing. Mom said she wasn't doing very well, so I left work immediately and went straight there. From the sound of Mom's voice, I could tell that she was worried but was trying not to show it. She didn't look too great when I got there, so I just couldn't force myself to leave. She was having trouble breathing, but indicated she wasn't in any pain. All of the family had been there through out the day, so i decided to stay overnight and take the night shift. My cousin Russ and I stayed up all night, and let Mom, Marc and Aunt Shirley get a little sleep. I think I got about an hour of sleep all night and Russ was about the same. Although, the others got some much needed rest, so they were ready to go the next day.

Saturday morning I headed home to change and see Shane and Olivia for a little while, but was right back on the road again. The entire family pulled together and we were all there with Grandma together, which we knew would be want she wanted. Saturday 9/29 and Sunday 9/30 were more of the same. We were all there during the day and all took turns spending the night so that someone was there at all times. It is funny, cause I always knew how close our family was, but something like this really proves it! We just knew what needed to happen, and we made it happen. In other words, everyone took turns going to store, cooking food, cleaning the house, etc. It was amazing to see how we all pulled together!

Monday morning 10/1 was pretty tough. The majority of us stayed home from work because we knew it wouldn't be long. She asked about my Uncle Sonny (her son) for the first time today. He lives in Tennessee, and even though we had kept him up to date about how she was doing, he hadn't left yet to come to Peoria. So, the moment we called him and said she was asking about it, he was on his way. We knew she was waiting for something, and this turned out to be it. He stayed by her side all night long, just as we all had the previous nights.

Tuesday morning 10/2 at 6:30, Grandma passed away. I had just dropped Olivia off at Kathy's and got the call from Mom. Of course, I wanted to get there as soon as I could. I did get to see her and say goodbye one last time. She was finally at peace. We knew she was exhausted and was ready to go. We are comforted in knowing she is with Grandpa and Aunt Sis. She was 94 years old, so had a long and extremely happy life. We are certainly sad to see her go and will truly miss her. We love you Grandma!

Scott was able to fly home Tuesday evening 10/2, so was available for the visitation 10/4 and funeral 10/5. Considering the circumstances, it was so great to see him. He took off a week to take advantage of being home for Grandma, so we were glad about that. We were able to get some good family time in while he was here. He will be flying back out on Tuesday 10/9.