Relay for Life: Francine and Grandpa Pt. 2

Cont'd... July 9
If you want to know more about Francine's story, you can visit her site here.

So this was the reason for going to Relay for Life... then when I thought about it later on, I remembered that my Grandpa died of cancer too. It hurt me, to some degree, to realize that I had somehow forgotten the traumaitzing last weeks of Papa's life. After this revelation, I sat one day, determined to try to remember all that I could about him, and never forget it.

My Grandpa was a rather quiet man. The father of six children (that I knew of at that time) and the husband of Eslie Jackson, Mama. From what I can remember, he had pigeon and chicken "coobs" at the back of the house and also reared cattle on the hills of MoBay. But the memories that stand out are from the long summer we - me and Kiss - spent in MoBay with Gramma and Papa... and all our cousins.
He usually only saw us when food was around. He used to sit and peel oranges for all of us and we'd sit at his feet and eat our oranges. I can still picture him eating his orange, he'd take out his "teeth" and stuff the orange in his mouth and squeeze the juice from the orange. His defining feature was the belly he had in front of him. When we'd sit on his lap, there wouldn't be alot of space, so we'd have to keep still or risk dropping off.

Well, after a while, our trips to MoBay became less and less frequent. And we'd only see Granpa on the occassional family trip to MoBay that we grew to hate - because all three of us would have to cram in the back of the Lancer (my beloved).

Finished... Today - July 26
Then one day, Grandpa came to stay with us in Kingston. I can't remember if they knew what was wrong, i can't remember if they were hiding it from us, I can't remember how much time he would spend with us... but I remember how he looked, not like my Papa... he was losing weight, his belly was disappearing.

After some time, we found out that he had cancer of/in his intestines. He did surgery to remove it, more than one from what I can remember, but it was too late. It had spread to other organs and chemo wouldn't help him. So we were forced sit and watch him fade away. He'd be at home and have nothing to eat, and still throwing up. He had a bag at his side. He was in bed most the time. He eventually got so bad that he was brought back to the hospital.

Some days/weeks later, not sure, can't remember exactly, Grandpa died. I can remember the moment we heard he was gone, where I was, who I was with, how nonchalantly i thought daddy brought it up, how quickly Toni started to cry, and Daddy asking her why she was crying and saying he had to go.
Grandpa died of cancer when I was 12, long time ago, *rolls eyes*. Mommy and daddy would tell us to eat our fruits and vegetables or get cancer in our intestines and we'd end up like Papa. I think after Papa's funeral, I make an effort not to look on the people in caskets at funerals, so I can try to keep the memory of them healthy and alive. The last memory I have of Papa is a skinny man, with a drawn face, and he wasn't Papa's colour.

Those are the memories. Next year I'll be celebrating the life of another family member, not one that I knew well, met her once, but my aunt none the less. One of my mothers' sisters, half sister, that I met when Grandpa died. She died last month of cancer of her womb.

Eat your fruits and vege's people...