Easter
04.20.2003My grandpa's a bull ox. I Visited him in the hospital only hours after open heart surgery. He was chipper and happy to see us. His voice was barely a whisper, but he asked us about ourselves, how we were doing. He wiggled his toes (as per the nurse's instructions). Grandpa is one tough hombre.
Grandma smiled and kept him company, feeding him little bits of ice when he asked for them. He'd push his respirator out of the way and open his mouth. But he hardly ever complained. And he kept talking about the Bluegills he plans to catch as soon as he gets out — fishing at Pratt Lake will do him good, I'm sure.
The hardest thing will be letting people help him. Grandpa likes to give help; he doesn't like to get help. He still goes out mid-Spring and puts the dock out on the lake and draws the boats into the water. He'll grugingly accept help (to be fair, he's quite particular about how things are done). But he's a hard worker, a roughneck.
He dropped out of school when he was thirteen — the Depression, of course. He worked hard at a small gas station, which he later bought and owned (w/ a little help from his Italian friend Tony, but that's another story for another time). Grandpa's greatest accomplishment was that he owned his own business; he worked for himself.
He was a mechanic, walked around all day in a blue shirt and rough, greasy hands, a rag hanging out his back pocket. He also owned a snow plow company. He still wakes up at 5am every morning. I've no idea how he does it.
But he's recovering, doing well. They only did a triple bypass, which is better than a quintuple, I guess. His heart's strong, so he pulled through w/ amazing speed. He'll be going home in a few days. I'm sure in a few weeks he'll be mowing his own lawn.
The Coates family gathered for Easter dinner at Olive Garden. It was nice to see everyone. Well, almost everyone. Carson's training for more forest fire fighting (he's nuts!) in Arizona — he and his wife, Carol, are also expecting a baby in August. I'm not sure where Doug and Maria were; Andrea and Toby are in Princeton finishing up their semesters.
The food was good. But I forgot my camera at home; so no family dinner pictures.
My brothers and I were starving, having woken up to attend a 10am Easter service at my parents' church. I missed going to mass and missed the lovely St. Tom's liturgy. Nazerene churches remind me too much of Vegas and Karaoke; I never feel "right" there.
The holiday's winding down. Andy and Dad are on their way to the airport; Andy flies back to Delaware to his job at Du Pont. Sam and I go back (separately) to our respective homes tomorrow. My parents will have a quiet house again.
Posted by Miguel at 05:05 PM
Comments
When do you get back?
dan
Posted by: dan at April 21, 2003 12:29 PM