He had fallen earlier in the day and the family knew, a few went to the hospital to see him but quickly the news traveled that it was worse then we thought.
My mom had called me to bring my brothers since her and my dad had already left.
Driving to the hospital, I got a call and the news that Grandpa was in a coma and wouldn't be waking up.
I wasn't to tell my brothers.
We got to the hospital and came up the elevator.
I remember seeing my dad crying and it broke my heart.
We went in to see Grandpa and I immediately was reminded of 4th grade, doing the same thing with Grandma Dixie. I was too scared then to say anything or even get anywhere near her. I regret that.
It was hard to see Grandpa like that, so helpless. But especially to see Grandma. She still somehow had a smile on her face and was just sitting there holding his hand.
The whole family spent the night at the hospital. We just sat there. Not knowing what to do.
After a while, Mal finally came down from Logan.
I'm glad she found a way to get down.
Finally at about 2am, the whole family went in the tiny room and had a prayer. We talked about Grandpa and how everything would be okay. We all gave our last hugs and kisses and left the room.
That was hard.
The next day, I went to school or tried to. I was exhausted and emotionally drained.
I still remember trying to get things ready for the choir festival we had that day and Mike took everything from me and said, "You look awful, go home."
At first I was kind of upset by that but then I realized I didn't have to be there. I needed to be at home.
I went home and took a nap then continued on my week.
Throughout the week it was so nice to be able to read the newspaper articles about Grandpa. Not just his obituary but just the random articles that were published because he was such an influential man.
I had no idea about most of his accomplishments because to me he was always just Grandpa Jack.
We had his viewings and funeral later in the week. During all of this I met the First Presidency in the church and their wives. It was such a cool experience to feel of the spirit that they brought into the room.
One of my favorite moments was when we were in the room with only the family and we hear President Monson coming up the side walk, into the room. There was a rush of the spirit in that room as soon as we just heard his voice.
He was such a sweet man and gave a great talk, later during the service.
One of the hardest things was realizing that, I was fully planning on being married in the temple by Grandpa Jack and now that couldn't happen. I had always just assumed it would happen.
I miss Grandpa everyday. His accomplishments make me want to live my life so that while he watches from above, he can be proud of what I'm doing.
"Striving for happiness is a long, hard journey with many challenges. It requires eternal vigilance to win the victory. You cannot succeed with sporadic little flashes of effort. Constant and valiant living is necessary."
-Jack H Goaslind
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