in memoriam

On Saturday, my grandfather died.

A couple days previously, he'd been admitted to the hospital again. The closest he would ever come to complaining that he was in pain was answering in the affirmative to a direct question, so he must have been bad off for them to be so generous with the morphine. My grandmother and my aunt stayed with him, always speaking as though he might be listening, although he was mostly unconscious, something that was no doubt a great relief.

A couple of weeks previously, I brought Stan to Sioux Falls for a visit, over my parents' strenuous objections, because I absolutely insisted that he be able to meet my grandfather while he was still alive. My whole family interrogated him on his propensities and prospects, naturally, but my grandfather was the only one who didn't ask what use a degree in philosophy was. He said that it's always good to have a philosopher around.

Once, I was sitting by his bed while he was asleep in case he needed anything, and he woke up and told me that I was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. "You've always been beautiful," he added. "But you're especially beautiful now."

I've never doubted that I was smart – like my grandfather, in fact – but I never believed that I was beautiful before.

resquiescat in pace

in memoriam

On Saturday, my grandfather died.

A couple days previously, he'd been admitted to the hospital again. The closest he would ever come to complaining that he was in pain was answering in the affirmative to a direct question, so he must have been bad off for them to be so generous with the morphine. My grandmother and my aunt stayed with him, always speaking as though he might be listening, although he was mostly unconscious, something that was no doubt a great relief.

A couple of weeks previously, I brought Stan to Sioux Falls for a visit, over my parents' strenuous objections, because I absolutely insisted that he be able to meet my grandfather while he was still alive. My whole family interrogated him on his propensities and prospects, naturally, but my grandfather was the only one who didn't ask what use a degree in philosophy was. He said that it's always good to have a philosopher around.

Once, I was sitting by his bed while he was asleep in case he needed anything, and he woke up and told me that I was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. "You've always been beautiful," he added. "But you're especially beautiful now."

I've never doubted that I was smart – like my grandfather, in fact – but I never believed that I was beautiful before.

resquiescat in pace