Sad News

This will be very difficult for me to write but I have to get it out of my head. I received a phone call from my dad last night and it was not good news. He was not bragging about the weather in Naples, FL or the great shot he made on the golf course. He called to give me an update about Grandpa and Helen. They both fell. This is the 5 or 6th time my grandfather has fallen in a year. But most importantly, this is the 3 time he has fallen in 2 months. But this was Helen's first fall. The doctors have run their tests.

Background information: My grandfather and Helen are both 98 years old. That is amazing. They both have their mind, or at least most of it. They live in an assisted living apartment and just recently, they moved to the 4th floor because they needed more care. Yes we all know the end is near.... it is the end that is the topic of this blog.

My grandfather has been a major player in my life. He would put a baseball glove in my crib, my grandmother would take the glove out and put in a doll. They would go back and forth with this until my grandfather finally insisted for the glove to stay in the crib. Well thank goodness for that because I can not see me playing with Barbies.

My grandparents lived in Ceder Lake, IL right before my grandfather retired from the steel mill. They had a wonderful garden and a lot of room for us to play. There was a vacant lot next door to them that we made into a baseball diamond and a place to have bon fires. The whole extended family came over for the bon fires. It was like a national holiday with all the people, food and fun.
I can list my best memories from that house and the time we spent with my grandparents and it would go on for pages!!!! I am not kidding.

I learned to drive a riding lawn mower in Ceder Lake, much to my grandmother's dismay. After the grass was cut I would put that lawn mower in 4th gear and run it like it was a race car around my own track.

My grandmother died when I was in 6th grade. What a wonderful woman she was. I have a lot of her in me. A few years passed and my grandfather married my grandmother's best friend, Helen. I was pissed when they told us.... no one was going to replace my grandmother. But she was very sweet after I was visibly upset. She came to my room and told me that she was not trying to replace my grandmother because she was an amazing woman. She just wanted to be part of our family. Helen fell and hit her head pretty hard but as far as we know she is ok. She has been ready for the lord to take her for a while now. She has lost her sight and most of her hearing and that is a shame. She was awesome to talk to and she was a avid reader. I wish her peace.

My grandfather was one of my faithful supporters during my sports activities. He loved it that I took up softball. He used to play 16 inch softball in Chicago. He has one crooked finger to prove it. In fact he loved to watch all three of us play baseball/softball. It was a great day for him when he could be at the baseball fields watching all three of us play baseball. Yes I did say baseball. I played in a boys baseball league for 2 years because my mom was pissed with the politics of the softball league. Anyway, he would give us a dollar if we hit a home run. My brother Scott almost bankrupted him one year because he was the leading home run hitter.

I played softball in college. During my last home game as a senior, I finally hit it out of the park. So during my graduation, I was called back up to the stage to get my home run ball, (I went to a small college.) And there was my grandfather with my dollar bill!!!!!!!!!

John R Small is the oldest of 12. He was born on 1-11-11. We call him the 5 aces because of his birth date. He changed his name from Smolinski to Small because in order for him to get a good paying job in the steel mill he could not have a Polish name.

I love them both and I wish them the peace they so dearly deserve.