Memento Mori

Early this morning, I received a call I have been expecting but
dreading: my grandfather had passed in his sleep at age 96. His health
had been in decline for some years now, and he's been in a care
facility since some falls at the farmhouse. 

The hardest part was not taking the call, but in having to break the
news to my father (his eldest son), who is traveling in Europe at the
moment and had seen my grandfather shortly before he left. He's also
been expecting this, as he's seen this decline up close, but even when
one is ready, one is not really ready. I was able to call him for a
brief time, as I didn't want to break the news via something as cold
as a text or an email. 

He was a good man, a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and
great-grandfather. Now that he is gone the family farm will probably
be broken up and sold off, and a large piece of my childhood will be
gone.

Plus ca change.

Memento Mori.