Happy Birthday Grandma

Tomorrow my Grandmother would be 91 years old.  I would have loved to spend that day with her.  She died 5 years ago and the Heinisch family misses her greatly.  You do not have to know me long to realize that my grandparents meant the world to me.  They loved their family very much and for the last 7 years of their life left the warm weather of Florida to live in Indiana to be closer to all of us.  I appreciate that they did this or my children would have never gotten to know them, but what I admire most about my grandparents was their devotion to one another.

I was very close to my Grandfather growing up and spent many hours listening to his stories of World War II.  He was my hero growing up and my safety net after my brother died.  My grandmother felt the same about him and on the last night of his life I spent several hours with her listening as she praising him.  She told me stories that I never knew and I cherish them to this day.  He married her after he returned from the war and instantly became the father of four.  They went on to have two children of their own and I never grew tired of listening to their struggles raising six children and his devotion to family.  During the roughest times economically, my Grandfather worked four jobs to support all of them.  It was obvious from his actions that he loved all  his children and grandchildren even if he never spoke those words.

When my CrapPa was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer I was devastated.  I know my Grandmother was too.  I visited him everyday for five months with a Heinisch child in tow.  I cherish those visits and I love that my children remember him and the fun they had listening to the same stories I heard.  A week before he died, with little voice left, he was even able to tell Brett and Cal a baseball story from World War II that I had  never heard before.

On the week he started slipping in and out of consciousnesses we had tickets to the IU football game in Bloomington.     I decided that we would still make the four hour trip even though he might be gone by the time we got back.  We had visited him and loved him and I know he knew that.  As his final night arrived my Grandmother called her children to let them know that this was probably it and if they wanted to see him they needed to come visit.  No one told me that I had to cut my trip short, but I just knew that he was waiting for me.  I arrived close to midnight and my Grandmother was not suprised to see me.  I listened to her stories and we both listened to his erratic breathing.  After several hours I realized that I didn't want the night to end, but I knew that she was growing tired and I must let him go.  As I walked out of the bedroom I let him know that Purdue lost.  He could not speak and I love that I got the last word in on our long running IU-Purdue debate.  I woke up the next morning to find out that my beloved Grandfather had died about fifteen minutes after I left.

Six weeks later my Grandmother joined him.  They were together again as it should be.  As I spoke at her funeral I could not talk of sadness.  Instead I retold the story of  the night she and I had spent together, the night of Grandpa's death.  I thought that evening was about him, but it wasn't.  It was really about her and I spending time together.  She spoke so passionately about him and she could have never found a more willing audience.  Just as she did, I believed that Paw Paw (or as I called him CrapPa) was an amazing man.  Grandma and I created a memory late one October night that will last a lifetime.  I miss her and on the 27th of March I will take time to wish her the best birthday ever.  I know her and CrapPa are enjoying the Heinisch family from afar and that we still love them both very much!