And they were married 61 years...

After being ecstatic about finishing the Marine Corps 10k, without taking any walk breaks, despite my lack of training, and my lack of confidence (never ran 6.4 miles in my life, did not expect to be able to do it now), I called my parents on my way back home to brag. My mom did not sound good on the phone, I thought I had woken her up. Instead, I found out she had gotten no sleep at all.

My grandfather had a regular normal day. Read his newspaper before bed, had his usual glass of milk, and had even reached for my grandmother's hand to give her a kiss, when she took his glass away. He was sweet like that, even after all those years. A few minutes later she went to tuck him in (she is a night person, and stays awake into the wee hours of the night). When she did, he said "I have such a pain in my chest, such pressure" and his eyes rolled over and he passed away.

Without being sick, at home, in my grandmothers arm. Days after I wrote this post, at 87 years old, a few weeks before their 61st anniversary, he took his last breath.

He has been in a fragile condition since ending up in the hospital two years ago, after his bladder burst on an UTI gone bad (he didn't take his full round of antibiotics, and stopped midway through treatment). He has been ready to go for a while, always mentioning how someone who even late in life was as active as him, should not have to spend the end of his days with a great mind, but a failing body.

In a way, the world was finally fair to him, letting him go before he got to deteriorate further, before having to spend his last days in the hospital, alone, away from his wife and family.

But he left behind a wife, kids, grandchildren. All who miss him dearly already. All of us, who never had a chance to say goodbye.

At 2am this morning, my grandfather passed away. And if there is a heaven up there, I'm sure he is looking down at me, finally glad that the distance between his favorite grandkid and him will no longer keep us apart.

And hopefully he is watching over me and eventually can help me finally stop shedding the tears over his loss. Because the thought that I will never see him again is unbearable.