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My Grandfather died today.

He was diagnosed with ALS less than 2 months ago, and it’s been very rough on all of us to watch (I had it a little easier because I am living on my own, but the rest of my immediate family lives right next door to my Nana and Grandfather).

It progressed way faster than any of us were expecting. He looked different each day.

He wasn’t sleeping well and he had no appetite.

They took him to the hospital when he was unable to stand or walk- even with help and with a walker- and he spent a week there. Even the hospital staff had trouble keeping him comfortable and getting him to sleep. He kept his good sense of humor though it all, and started cracking jokes with the nurses as soon as he got there.

He was cleared to come home on Thursday. I got The Call from my sister Friday night that it was time to come home. Lucky that I had packed my bag several days in advance, because I wouldn’t have been able to think straight enough to pack it after that phone call.

As soon as I pulled in an hour later I walked in the door and everyone was crying and listening to him as he was saying goodbye and blessing each of us.

He made it through the night. We all sat with him listening to music and reading the Bible to him for several hours on Saturday. Most of the extended family arrived the night before.

He had mentioned wanting to see snow again one last time. It had been in the high 60s on Friday, but we woke up to 3-4 inches of snow Saturday morning. In Texas. We haven’t had a real snow like that in years.

He passed away around noon today. I am not an overly emotional person, but I cried so much over this weekend. It ripped my heart out to see my whole family sobbing.

I will miss him terribly, as he is the reason I ended up getting into horses. He is in a much better place now, and even though we are all sad, we are happy for him.