Eminent Death Essays - The Paz Show, Pappyland,

Eminent Death The Eminent Death During this past summer I experienced real pain and sadness as a result of a loved ones illness and ultimate death which was something I had never had to deal with before. My grandfather, Pappy, had been sick with cancer on and off for ten to fifteen years. He was a very animated, witty man - always sitting in his chair, watching TV, and smoking his cigars, unless he was out playing golf or helping Granny do something around the house. But he would be sure to take the time to show my cousins and my sister and I some new games or toys he had gotten for his computer, or just tell us hysterical stories and jokes whenever we were at their house. I remember being in elementary school and going to see him in the hospital while he was there for chemotherapy. It was weird seeing my Pappy in a hospital bed so helpless, but I was young so I did not think about it. Thankfully he pulled through and was soon back to his old self again. There were other times when he was in and out of the hospital for a while, but my Pappy would always recover. The first to crack a joke at holiday meals or make the grandchildren laugh by putting his bolo tie in his nose during pictures; he loved the attention from his family. As I got into high school, I began to realize that my Pappy was not doing as well and going as strong as I had pictured. One could easily see the gray streaks coming in to his hair, turning it from a dark brown to a sort of salt and pepper look, and finally to a light gray. He began to resort to the use of a cane when walking around. My parents never really informed what was happening, just that he was not doing well or in the hospital or had worsened in his condition. At the end of my senior year and the beginning of the summer, things began to get really bad. I saw my dad and my uncle becoming the parent to my grandfather, and him becoming the child. It is one of those things that you hear about happening, but it does not click in your head until you actually experience it. My grandmother would call my dad to hurry over at least once a week because he had fallen and she was not able to help or he had another sort of accident that she was not capable of handling herself. I remember coming home from school one day and my father told me that Pappy was in the hospital and that I needed to go visit him because he was going to die soon. I did not know what to think about that except that I had to get over there fast. I went with my mother and it tore me apart inside to see my grandfather in that state. He had been sick the whole night before throwing up blood and my grandmother had rushed him to the hospital as soon as possible. Lying there, in the hospital bed, with all these cords and tests running through him - this was my grandfather. After a day or so the hospital released him and life went on, but he kept getting worse and worse. Summer began and I had a time-consuming job at the pool as a swim team coach, a swim instructor, and a lifeguard. I tried to go over to visit my grandparents as much as possible because I knew that Pappy would not make it much longer. One day as I returned home from work my mother told me that Pappy had a new tumor. He was going to have to get a MRI to find out whether it was benign or malignant. When my grandmother had taken him to the hospital, the doctors would not allow her to be in the room with him during the MRI. This caused Pappy to have a panic attack and not be able to complete the tests. All the doctors knew was that there was a tumor on his