Grandma Goes Home

My grandma, Helen Welker, age 92 went home late yesterday afternoon to be reunited with Grandpa Welker. This was completely expected as all life-supporting systems had been removed from her (and at her request). It was simply a matter of time.

She lived 11 years longer than Grandpa and really had a wonderful life during this time. She was able to live in a first-rate facility in Van Wert with all the amenities one could ever need. It was always comforting to us knowing she was well taken care of.

The last time I saw her was while she was still in the comfort of her little apartment, just a few months ago. She was feeling very tired from medication she was on but was still in great spirits. But, she was ready to move on from this earth.

These past couple weeks, she had surgery to remove fluid from her brain, and everything basically went downhill from there. She was kept from pain by constant doses of morphine and this just wasn't how she wanted to continue on living. During all this time though, my dad said she was always alert and always knew who was in the room with her.

What we didn't want to happen was for her to have to move to hospice care. But, unfortunately, that was what had to happen as Wednesday night was the last night she was allowed to stay in the hospital. However, God had other plans, and maybe even a little sense of humor about it all.

It was time to move Grandma out late yesterday afternoon. The ambulance was there, and they were moving the stretcher into the room. My dad said they were literally two minutes from moving her out when she passed away.

I think Grandpa Welker got a big kick out of that and will be teasing her about it.