Goodbye to Dziadziu

I have some sad news, my grandfather (Dziadziu, in Polish) passed away just over a week ago. He was 90 years old and had a couple of strokes about 2 weeks ago. He was in and out of the hospital for about a week and basically never really woke up from being sedated while they tried to figure out how much he lost from the strokes.

He was able to meet and play with one of his two great-grandchildren just a few weeks ago. That was during a visit by my brother and his wife and son. He skyped with the other one, Nevlin, the week before he entered into the hospital.

My Dziadziu was an amazing man who survived Poland during World War II, moved with his wife and my mother to the US, and worked hard his whole life. He exuded a "fix it" mentality, especially with mechanical items like lawn mowers and cars before they had computers. He taught me many things about life, love, work, and attitude.

I had a dream with him this past weekend, where I watched him slowly close his normally bright blue eyes. Dziadziu had lost the sparkle you always saw and I think that was part of my way to recognize he has gone to a better place. I wasn't able to travel for his funeral, so I will say a proper goodbye when I'm back home.

I'll miss you Dziadziu.