So we moved on Saturday, spoke in church on Sunday, and I flew out to Cali Sunday night so I could start my first rotation Monday morning at Leiter's Compounding pharmacy in Santa Clara. The next 6 weeks were a big BLUR! Steve came out just 4 days after my arrival so we could spend Memorial Day weekend at Clear Lake with my mom's side of the family, including my Grandpa Holland. We had a great time, but my Grandpa wasn't feeling all that great. We didn't think much of it, but my aunt Joanne ended up driving him home a day early and getting him to the ER, only to find out he was seriously ill (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, AKA the doctors have no idea what's going on other than a serious lung problem). He was in the ICU, and we visited him every day after work that next week. At my site, I was in a clean room wearing scrubs, shoe covers, a gown, face mask, hair cover, and gloves and I could not have my phone with me. The phone rang in the lab and when the tech said it was for me, I knew it was bad news. I answered the phone and heard my mom falling apart on the other end saying "We are disconnecting grandpa from the BiPAP machine, come now to say goodbye." Well that caused me to immediately break down in tears as I ran out of the lab (at the permission of my preceptor) hopped in the car and drove 15 minutes to the hospital.
I walked in and all of my cousins and aunts and uncles were there. I was able to go in and say goodbye to my grandpa through a lot of tears. He was crying too. He could speak but it was difficult to understand with the mask over his face and the loud machine connected to him. Some of his last words of advice were quite funny like when my mom asked him for advice he said "Get rich!" Haha! About 2 hours later we disconnected the machine and were told it could be between 5 minutes and 3 hours for him to pass after it was disconnected. He passed withing about 3 minutes. It really was a shock to all of us. We had just lost Grandma 7 months earlier, and we were not expecting to loose Grandpa so fast. Our solace came in the fact that they are together now and much happier than they were apart. I am very grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that we are an eternal family...but man we sure miss him right now!
Needless to say, after that event, the rest of my 6 weeks went incredibly fast between funeral plans and dissolving my grandpa's estate. I managed to squeeze in a trip to Santa Barbara with my best friend Jenny to see our best friend Breanna get married! So fun!
Steve came out again for the funeral, as well as one more weekend before I came back to Utah. He had some fun too, and was able to spend a week in Boston with some fellow history teachers using grant money to see the sites. He had a great time!
Once I returned to Utah, Steve and I had one full week together before he left for cherry picking in Washington. It was the week of the 4th and my parents came into town for a big Langlois family reunion. My other grandparents returned from their mission in May and my grandpa is turning 80 so we had a party! It was fun and I met my cousins that I never knew!
Now Steve is in Washington and I am in Utah well into my 2nd rotation. It will be nice when life settles down and we can live in the same state like a normal married couple, but for now, we are making it work!
I'm glad I got to see the Funeral Program. Fun to see What your grandparents looked like when they were younger! Hopefully we get to hang out a little in Utah! Love you!
ReplyDelete