June 5, 2011 Grandpa Law Passes Away

Grandpa Law passed away at 11:10 on June 5, 2011. It was a beautiful fast Sunday morning. We knew that he was very close to leaving the night before. We were blessed to witness special miracles before he left ! We were not there a week ago, but many family members were able to be a part of Grandpa's last teaching moment. He had been incoherent for a few days prior, but Saturday he had an hour and a half of teaching while his loved ones listened. He described roads and engineers and entrances and exits. In that description he told the family that engineers prepare the roads and the signs so that we will be safe as we travel. If we follow the signs we will get to our destination safely. Then, he compared that to the gospel and said that we have all of the signs and guides that we need to get to our heavenly destination safely. In his conclusion he said, "The gospel is easy; you just do what is right!" What a great lesson.

When we arrived on June 4th, Grandpa was in a hospital bed in the living room. He hadn't been eating that day and he could not talk. When we came in though and Grandma told him that we were there, he raised his hands and made some noise. That was his way of telling us hello and that he knew we were there. What a blessing. We stayed around him, rubbed his hands, Dave put lotion on his feet and we talked to him. As the night progressed we could see his decline continuing. He could no longer take his medicine, but he didn't seem to be in a lot of pain as he had been before. Dave stayed up with him until 2 a.m. and then grandma stayed up the rest of the night. She called Wendi, Steve and Dallin and told them that they better come because she didn't know if Grandpa would make it til Monday. S

Steve had just gotten off of the river and he came immediately. He and Dallin drove through the night and arrived at 7:30 in the morning. Grandpa was very out of it by then, but another miracle happened as Steve walked in. Grandma told him that Steve was here and Grandpa moved his arms and mouth AGAIN! It was amazing! We cried and cried.

WE had decided to stay around Grandpa and have church there. We decided that we would sing "Love At Home" in Spanish because Grandpa wanted the grandkids to sing this at his funeral. Some of them had been practicing it. So, Grandma, Dave, Dallin, Steve, Me, Dayton, Cado and Roo sang it and I'm sure it was not pretty. However, we looked over and saw Grandpa's mouth moving as we sang. That was another miracle. We know he was with us.

After our little meeting, we went ahead and worked on making lunch. After a while, I looked over to see Steve sitting by Grandpa and I noticed that Grandpa's head was looking right at Steven and his eyes had opened. I told Grandma and we both looked at that special moment. Then Grandma noticed that Grandpa's color had turned very ashen. We went over to him and could tell that something was very different. A quiet came to the room and I motioned for the kids to come around and Dave ran downstairs and got Dallin. We all stood very still around Grandpa and watched as his breathing quietly ceased. Then we cried. Grandpa's spirit had just left his body, but I know he was very close. There was a peace and a great sorrow all together as we felt the impact of the moment.

I don't know that I ever expected to see someone die, nor did I expect that my children would experience this at such a young age. But what I think this experience actually brought was peace. Grandpa went gently and very quietly at the end. His poor body had given everything it could give in this mortal life.

His funeral will be on Thursday. Dave stayed in Orangeville and the kids and I came home. Dave and his siblings will spend this part of the week together and the families will join them on Wednesday for the evening viewing.

We got to talk to Bo on Sunday night and our prayers go out to the missionaries who are doing the work that grandpa would most love them to be doing, but we know that they will miss being here very much during this time. This makes teaching about the Plan of Salvation so much more real and personal now. They will be better missionaries for that and for the fact that they now have a special angel to help them. I know that Grandpa will be very near to each of us when we need him. We love the legacy of Grandpa Law. He left very big shoes to fill.