Our Angel is growing up: R.I.P. Duke

So, I am not sure if I wrote too much about Duke in my blog about vacation. But Duke is my Grandma's (My moms mom) boyfriend. I am not sure how long they have been together, but I know he has been around as long as I can remember. They were never married so he never really became my grandpa and we were not too close. In my earliest memories, I made him mail (I used to make mail boxes out of paper and then draw letters for people all the time) so I must have liked him then. And as I got older, I never really knew what to do around him, but I did not dislike him or anything. There were times where I wanted him to treat my grandma better. But I prayed for him often.

So anyways, during the months before our visit he had been getting sicker and sicker. After a lot of tests he was diagnosed with Lung & Liver cancer while we were visiting. He came to Hampton Beach with us since the doctor told him it would be good for him. A couple days later, the doctors realized that Chemo would not work and told my Grandma he would have days to live. The day we left Boston, Hospice set up shop. For almost two weeks he held in there. He was in the hospital for a couple of nights and then on Thursday night they transfered him to another facility where he died a few hours later.

As I mentioned above, we were never that close. But his death made me sad in a way that I did not expect. To think that next time we visit, he will not be there is weird. Sometimes he did weird things that were actually so thoughtfull (We went to see him the night before we left and since we were going on a plane- he had to give us some magazines. He comes out of the back of the house with a travel magazine for me and a Maxim magazine for Justin. Interesting, but thoughtfull in his own way). I am going to miss always wondering what he will say or do when we see him.

The hardest part for me is seeing my Grandma go through this loss. They were together for a long time. And Massachusetts is not a Common Law Marraige state, so she was not able to do much legally. She could not even have him cremated without one of his family members. And while the plus side is that she will not be responsible for any dept he has, she is loosing the person that may be able to help her with her own debt.

So anyways- I have included a couple of pictures from Hampton Beach. He came out of his room to watch the fireworks show. Since he had forgotten his sweatshirt- he borrowed Justin's oversized Southpole one!