Grandpa Jorgensen

The morning after my last blog entry, Dec 4, 2008, my Grandpa Jorgensen (my mom's dad) passed away. He was 87 years old.

I've blogged a bit about Grandpa in the past. He was the one with the cool heart-shaped pillow. Back in May he had heart surgery for a valve replacement, which also ended up including a couple of bypasses. His heart was strong and pulled through beautifully, but the rest of his organs didn't handle things so well. His kidneys shut down and had to be jump-started, and his lungs were a huge hassle filling with liquid instead of O2. One of the main issues ended up being his swallowing. He was intubated for so long that it damaged his epiglottis limiting his nutrient intake to whatever they were able to pump through a pic.

All of that left him in Sacred Heart's CICU (in Spokane) for ... 3 weeks or so. The last two of those weeks I stayed in the hospital with him and my grandma so my aunt and mom could get back to work.

Before we left the CICU they put in a feeding tube which was able to pump in a LOT more nutrition and immediately boosted my grandpa's energy and strength. In fact, I think that's the main reason he was able to ever leave the place. He was moved to a regular room, then out of the hospital and into a rehab facility in Walla Walla, and then finally, at the end of September he was able to go home with Grandma and a home visit nurse taking over his care.

Things were going pretty well, then at the end of November, Grandpa fell ill again. This time he had contracted a couple of different forms of pneumonia including one that wasn't reacting to the antibiotics. Things started looking good for a while, but they could never quite get a handle on all of it and eventually, the disease won.

Grandma was very grateful for Grandpa's passing. She said that she had gone to sleep praying that the Lord would let him go, and when she woke up and looked at Grandpa she knew that he had been released from his pain. The nurses and doctors were actually a bit shocked at his passing, but she felt it was an answer to prayer. Grandma allowed an autopsy to be done on Grandpa's body to find out why the antibiotics weren't working. She said he would have wanted to be able to help others with the information.

Sandy called me that morning. I cried a bit, but not much. I knew he was better off; and his strong will and mind were not terribly pleased at being locked into an failing body. Grandma called Dad, who went over and pulled Mom out of school so that they could head down to Milton-Freewater. I called the rest of Mom's family. Poor Debbie and Heidi (Mom's sisters) didn't find out for a while. Debbie was out all day without a cell phone, and came home to her whole family knowing except her. Heidi was in school and got my msg to call, but couldn't figure out who "Dora" was. :O)

The funeral was held on Dec 11, 2008. The chapel was filled; including, but not limited to, 21 of his 25 grandchildren (Ben, Jacob, Tiffany, and Brooke were unable to come). Grandpa served in WWII and therefor had a flag draped over his casket. In honor of their mission to Scotland, Grandma requested a bagpiper, who came in at the end and played Amazing Grace.

At the graveside there was a row of chairs set in front of the site for my grandma and all of her daughters. Grandma sat in the middle, and then Heidi sat a couple of chairs down and then moved again after realizing she didn't have to save a seat for Grandpa. Taps was played and Grandma was presented with Grandpa's flag. Taps almost broke me, I was fine through everything else.

We went back to the church house and had dinner, which is a blog entry on its own. The ham was good. There were funeral potatoes, which Grandma had requested, but they were made with cream of mushroom soup (eww...) which Grandma is deathly allergic to. The salad was... a salad. And the variety of rolls did include nice and tasty ones, but they were snatched up before I could get to them.

And then, there was this orange jello concoction that was just WRONG!! Mormon I am, but while I do enjoy my share of jigglers, adding things to jello has never been culinarily correct to me. I have come to realize though that Mormon or not, it is an accepted practice throughout the country. This particular jello mold had fruit- acceptable, and CARROTS- unacceptable, and was topped with a dollop of white stuff... whipped cream? cream cheese mixture? no... MAYONNAISE!!! Yes, that's right... they topped it off with mayonnaise. I have come to find that in the deep parts of Mormon culture carrots, and even mayonnaise are appropriate accessories to jello. Apparently, I'm just not Mormon enough to eat it. ... Neither is anyone else in my family, because of all of the jello plates that were set out (one to every setting) only one was touched... not necessarily consumed, but touched. All this last paragraph said, I fear the next funeral I have to attend in Mesa, Chandler, or Gilbert.

Fortunately, the company was good. As I mentioned, the majority of cousins were there. Some I hadn't seen since before my mission. Others, because of the gap in my mother's family (Tom, the middle child died young, and the younger children married older) didn't know who I was... I blend in with all of the other Asian cousins. :O) Mike and Tommy were both in uniform (Mike's in the Navy, Tommy is in the Calvary). The younger cousins (children of the older cousins) all had a fun time playing with each other. Good times were had by all.

It was definitely a gathering that my grandpa would've enjoyed. Unfortunately, I doubt such a gathering will happen for quite a while, but fingers crossed.

Grandma's doing well. She's adjusting. One of her big adjustments has been getting a full-nights sleep. Usually she's up and down talking to doctors, nurses, or helping my grandpa. It took her a few nights to realize why she kept waking.

I've noticed myself still saying "Grandma and Grandpa's" or "they" or "them"... and my cell phone entry still has Grandpa and Grandma. Maybe in my next phone I'll change it, but for now, it's fine just the way it is.

Kudos to Grandpa for living such a good life and leaving such a great example for us to work toward. See you someday. Love you always.