Marlin Stoneking - September 19, 1937 to January 07, 2007. Beloved husband, father and grandfather.
I got some bad but relieving news on Tuesday. My grandmother called me Tuesday to tell me my grandfather had died. As sad as this news was it was a relief and a blessing because my grandfather had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease or a stroke for about 2 years now.
No one is completely sure which was the problem because Alzheimer's can only be diagnosed after death and through and autopsy. My grandmother as far as I know opted out of an autopsy. My grandfather also died on Sunday and I didn't hear until Tuesday.
It's hard and complicated to explain. My family doesn't really have the most normal communication skills nor is our family life very normal. My mother and my uncle refuse to talk to my grandmother and have for years. My cousin doesn't talk with her father and he hasn't been allowed to see his newest granddaughter who is now 6 mo. old.
I'm not here to air dirty laundry though. The only thing I can say is that I felt bad for my grandfather. Because of the family issues, the only people at the service were my grandmother, my cousin dave, his mother and step-father, my cousin kirsten, one of my uncle's and his girlfriend, my father, and my sister.
It's not that no one cared for him. In fact, grandpa was kind of the glue that held most of us together. People just felt they couldn't get along during the ceremony and one of my cousins didn't even know about it because he was in Cancun on vacation and no way of getting a hold of him. My grandpa deserved better than that. He had a lot of friends and a lot of people who cared for him.
Anyway, I left work on Wednesday night. I drove to Alpha. Spent the night and took off for Nashville at 7:30 am. Made it by 5 pm. Ate at Outback with my grandmother, father, sister and cousin Dave. Spent the night with Dave and grandma. Drank with Dave until 12:30 am. Woke up at 6:30 am. Services were at 11 am in Pegram, Tenn. about 70 miles away. Ate at Cracker Barrell after the service and drove immediately home. Got caught in freezing rain. Finished the drive home the next day. Drove from Alpha to Rochelle. Showered and went to work at 2:15 pm and returned home by 5:30 pm.
So that's my end of the week wrap up. I have a few pictures from the gravesite if you wish to take a look. At least I have the day off tomorrow. Hopefully I can do something productive with it. Last thing I would like to tell you about is the poem my grandma had my dad read at the ceremony. It's called "The Dash." I felt it was very fitting.
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