So, on Friday, November 21st, I headed to Vienna with my Architecture class. I was going to stay there until Wednesday afternoon, then head to Dublin, and then on Saturday, head to Scotland for a day.
As a class, we got to Vienna on Friday, but it was too late to have an organized activity. So some of us made our way from the hotel (which was way nicer than anything I had stayed at previously) to the city. Vienna has so many cool shops and cool Christmas lights that line the streets. I really liked what I was seeing, but it wasn't what I expected.
The next morning, we did lots of walking around as a class. It was pretty miserable and cold, but at least we got a dinner out of it. As we were walking, though, we saw lots of fire trucks and ambulances fly by. We went to see what happened, and we saw that a man had jumped from a ledge to commit suicide. I had never seen anything like it, and I hope I never have to again. But after some rest, we went to dinner as a class, and I (of course, being the Sophomore in a trip full of of Juniors) was elected to give the toast. It wasn't pretty.
Sunday, we did some exploring of Vienna's Christmas Markets. I got a warm apple wine, thinking it was warm apple cider. It still wasn't bad, though. They had live American oldies music playing by an Austrian band, and it was awesome.
Monday, we went in groups to look at housing complexes. It was cool to get to talk to some people that I hadn't talked to a ton. Vienna was like that as a whole. I didn't know anyone particularly well, or any better than anyone else. So it pushed me to not only talk new people, but everyone in the class.
Tuesday, we had different groups. The group was great, but the assignment was pretty boring. It's hard not to think, "Why are we looking at row houses throughout Europe, when we could be looking at palaces and cathedrals?"
It was our last night, and everyone was excited to make the most of it. But when I got back to the hotel, I got a text from my mom. Bonnie (my grandma) was on her deathbed, and probably wouldn't survive the week. So we booked a flight home to the States for the next day.
Wednesday, I woke up early and made my way to the Vienna Airport alone. I couldn't believe anything that was happening. I was so excited to see my family and to see Bonnie, but I didn't want her to go.
After some flight delays and missed connections, I ended up flying to Amsterdam, then to Atlanta, and then to Detroit, to be picked up by my dad. But when I was about to pick up my luggage, I saw Meg and Erin, who were there waiting for me. My dad and Jamie were waiting in the car. I was so happy to see them all. But we rushed to hospice back in Cleveland, and I got to see my mom and Bonnie.
I walked into Bonnie's room, and gave my mom a big hug. Apparently while that happened, Bonnie looked at me, and sh lit up. I didn't see it cause I was hugging my mom, but I sure lit up when I saw Bonnie. I was worried I wasn't going to be home in time to see her, especially with all the plane delays.
I slept in the hospice room that night, so happy that I could see Bonnie. On Thursday, I stayed most of the day in hospice, until dinner, which some of us ate at my Uncle Mickey's. I went back to hospice for a little after dinner, and then headed to my Uncle Tim's to see the Whitford side of the family. I talked with them for a little while, and then went to see Erin again. It was so nice to just be back in her front room, after 3 months gone.
Friday, I was in and out of hospice for the day. I stopped by the Verizon store, and fixed my phone's connectivity issue which made it only work when I had wifi. So I finally had a 3G connection for the first time in what felt like forever. I could text--not only in certain buildings--and it was liberating.
Friday evening I went back to hospice with Meg and Erin. My mom kicked us out for a while to talk alone with Bonnie, and when I came back, my mom was crying. It seemed like a really somber environment. And even though Bonnie didn't physically look any worse in my opinion, the was a feeling in the air that she had accepted it, and that it was her last night.
When I said goodbye, as I did every night, I said "I love you; See you tomorrow." She would always respond "I love you too; see you tomorrow."but that night it was different. She took a second, and said,"I love you, see you later." I was partially reassured, because it seemed like she knew I would see her later, and I believe her, but I wasn't ready to say see you later.
Bonnie didn't pass away that night, but the next day, Saturday, she wasn't up for visitors other than my mom, Uncle Mickey, and Pop. I accepted the "see you later," and I was happy that she knew she was going to.
So on Saturday night, I headed to Macey Walker's house to catch up with my high school friends and some of their families. It was a blast and it really was amazing to see everybody. I didn't want anyone to leave for school the next day, but they had to. I said my goodbyes, and got ready to be home for a week with family.
Sunday morning, I got up to go to 9:30 mass alone because they were praying for Bonnie during intentions. My mom was visiting Bonnie, and the rest of my family was asleep. When I pulled in the driveway after mass, my mom pulled in behind me. Tears were coming down her face, and she told me Bonnie had passed away that morning. I couldn't believe it. Even with a year and a half of cancer and a few weeks in hospice, it is hard to believe. It's always a surprise, as prepared as you can be.
Sunday night, my family and Pop ate over my Uncle Mickey's house with his family. We talked for a while, and discussed the week's proceedings. Pop was really quiet, and I felt terrible. I had been preparing the eulogy for a couple weeks, because I decided to do it, but I wanted to get a lot more of his perspective.
So on Monday, I went next door to talk to him for a while. He told me that he knew Bonnie was the one for him when he was only 16. That's 4 years ago to me, which is crazy to even imagine. I got a lot more insight on their relationship, and added it to the Eulogy.
On Monday and Tuesday, I did a lot f writing and hanging with family. Chipotle and Subway with Jamie, family movie nights, and suit shopping with Pop and my dad.
I got a navy suit to wear to the wake, which was on Wednesday. Our family got there at 2:00 that day, and stayed until 8:30. It was a long day, and lots of people came. Bonnie looked great, and the one thing everyone in the room shared was good memories with her. It was hard to be very sad while reflecting on the good times. But it was amazingly evident how many people were touched by Bonnie throughout her life.
Erin came back in town for the wake, which was really nice of her. She couldn't go to the funeral because she had an exam that day unfortunately, but it was nice to see her again the night of the wake.
On Thursday morning, we headed to the funeral home to see Bonnie for the last time. It was heartbreaking to say the least. From there, we headed to St. Raphael for the funeral mass. The mass was very important to Pop, and it went great. Meg and Molly read scripture very well, Jamie and Daniel presented the gifts well, My dad and Aunt Stephanie did well with intentions, Father Tim had a great homily, and I "only" made one mistake while giving the eulogy (accidentally saying that when when she was 15, Bonnie met her soulmate: "Mickey Whitford").
Here is the eulogy if you'd like to look at it and try to get an idea of just who my grandma was.
Here is the eulogy if you'd like to look at it and try to get an idea of just who my grandma was.
It was also great to see how many people Bonnie had touched, and how supportive they were. The neighborhood all came, and Shannon Sullivan even bussed back from Xavier to make the funeral. I was taken aback with how much everyone there cared for Bonnie, and I'm sure she would've been too. That night, we had Pop over for some pizza, and we just watched TV together as a family.
The next two days were spent mostly relaxing and catching up on my journal entries from this hectic 2 week period. Saturday night, we went to Outback with my Aunt Moe, and it was a great cap to being home. Only like 10 days until I come back. I'm in Amsterdam right now, waiting for my connection to Lux, and I cant wait to be back home.
