In which the Negligent Gnomes broaches a very serious topic.

On Friday I had to take an emergency trip to Michigan to see my Grandfather. He is dying. Almost all of us grandkids came. I am exhausted. I am emotionally drained. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get up and go to work tomorrow morning.

It was very hard to go and see my Grandpa, who was a farmer, looking so frail and bedridden, hardly able to speak. He was aware all of us grandkids were there, and it did make him smile and cry to see us. I'm so glad I was there, although it was so hard. He is ready to die, and kept saying "I'm ready to die", "why can't I die"... I don't want anyont to interpret this as me being heartless or cruel, but I can see where there's a time and a place for helping people die. Would it really be so terrible to be able to hand someone a button they can push where they can just quietly go to sleep? My grandpa isn't eating, he's hardly drinking, and he just wants to die. Yesterday he said my grandma was there with him, and she died about 8 years ago. He also called each of us in one at a time to impart his final words of wisdom.

All in all, I don't think I've ever cried so much in so few days. But I'm so glad I was there.