Tomorrow Fella and I are heading out to Germany. We were planning to go on Saturday and drive our little car down to the alpine region of southern Germany to visit my mother.
Regrettably plans are forced to change due to the sad death of my grandfather.
He has had heart problems since I was a small child, and last weekend he had a massive heart attack. After a short spell in intensive care he was moved to a side ward, made comfortable, sand with the agreement of the family nature was allowed to take its course.
Fella and I will be driving through the night to get there in time. For Fella it will be quite a challenge, I suppose, being that he will meet an awful lot of my family at one time, and in a difficult setting. Funny, really, as I met his family for the first time on the occasion of his grandfather’s funeral.
What strikes me is the efficient German timing of it all. We were going to be together anyway, more or less, so if you’re gonna go…
That really doesn’t do him justice! Born on the cusp of the Great Depression, raised under the Nazis, then had to raise his children under East German communism before they smuggled their young family over the border and started a new life in the West with absolutely nothing.
85 years of hard living, hard drinking, hard smoking and a lard chase took its toll of course and last weekend the music stopped.
To go off on a slight tangent, we went to see Adele in concert for Fella’s birthday, at around the time my grandfather was slipping away. This song in particular I really liked – though she is an awesome performer and a lovely person to boot – and since my grandfather passed away it has been running through my mind during the more personal moments I have taken to adjust to this loss.
4 comments:
If you're passing through Munich and need a bit of moral support (or just a beer!) drop me a line.
Sorry to hear that. Cycle of life....
ahoj
Hi Mike,
I am sorry to hear about the passing of your grandfather - unfortunately we can't choose when we go. Please be assured that my thoughts are with you.
Well done on passing your exams. I think with the difficult times in the public sector we are all a bit demotivated. I've recently got a new job and I probably wouldn't have looked if I hadn't been at risk of redundancy despite being more and more dissatisfied with my work life.
The thing is: I'm actually really excited to be moving on, it's a really good opportunity in an organisation, with a happy team in a completely new post that's never been done before. So I have my chance to be innovative again, which is what I haven't been able to do in my current post for the last 12-18 months.
Take care and a massive hug,
A x
Hi, and thanks to all of you for your kind words and support. I'll admit it's been tough; and that's why it means so much to me. X
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