The world has lost a good man

[Ryudo Lee]

Okay, I've got a little time and a more or less steady connection.

I figure this is the best place to put this.

I'm currently at my grandparents house.  My grandfather died this morning.  The coroner is saying that it's natural causes, but we don't have details yet.  Speculation says that his heart gave out when he got up this morning.  He'd been having breathing problems as of late, and from what we've been told, they were getting worse over this weekend, but he refused to call a doctor, thinking it would just pass, like everything else.  Unfortunately, that was not the case, and so now he's left us.  My dad and I have been up here since this morning, making phone calls and going through his things.  We have to go see to all his final arrangements tomorrow and through the rest of the week.

My grandmother was near hysterical this morning, but she is doing better now, so far as we can tell.  We don't yet know how we're going to move forward for her after the funeral.  But he had a great deal of insurance, so I'm fairly certain that she's going to be well taken care of.  Since we've been here we've had relatives and neighbors and family friends coming and going all day long, all to see my grandmother.  There's no shortage of people who loved my grandfather who will be there at my grandmother's beck and call.  But even so, we are still concerned about her going forward.

As for me, I've taken some bereavement leave from work so I can be here to help out.  There's a lot of stuff to go through, and people to talk to, places to drive to.  I'm going to be very very busy over the next couple of days.  So far we've found a lot of things.  He put a lot of his affairs in order, but there are still things that we need to arrange.

[techmaster-glitch]

Oh man...I feel for you, Ryudo. I lost several grandparents when I was younger, too.

Good luck to getting everything sorted out without any problems, and best wishes to your family.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Indeed. Oh, my. My condolences, and take your time; we'll wait as long as we need to.

[Tapewolf]

My condolences.  It sounds like you really got on well with him.

[Mrs_A_ZeTavia]

I send my condolences as well. It's been several years, since I've lost both of my grandfathers (one for each side); so I feel and understand what you are going through.

Take as much time as you need to heal from this loss. 

[Ryudo Lee]

The service went well, the funeral home did a really great job with it.  We had the wake at the funeral home and then moved on to the church for the funeral mass.  Afterwards we moved him to the cemetary where his and my grandmother's tomb was waiting for him.  He was in the Army Air Corps in WW2, so we had an Air Force Honor Guard out of Biloxi to come out and play Taps and give my grandmother his flag.  It was a very nice ceremony overall.  We had a lot of people come from all over, and those who couldn't come called us.  I'm back at home now.  I'd stay through the weekend, but I must be at work tomorrow.

My grandfather did a lot for his family and his community.  He worked at a chemical plant, which later became a liquid mud provider for oil rigs, he owned a labor crew company, and another company that I'm not completely familiar with.  Those companies ensured that my grandmother will have insurance throughout the rest of her life.  He also worked as a supervisor on a logging boat.  In fact, he created a model of that boat from scratch, and from memory.  During all that, he went and fought in the war, and when he came back he went right back to work.  Once he retired, he became very active with the church and became a euchrastic minister.  There is also a plantation home across from his house that he was an impromptu groundskeeper for.  The previous owner of the plantation house owns a company called Oceaneering, which is pretty big these days, even with the mess in the Gulf, but I digress.  Everyone knew him.  Everyone liked him.

Thank you all for your condolences.  It means a lot to me and my family.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Oh damn, sorry to hear Ryudo. My condolences to you and your family.

[Ryudo Lee]

In light of certain unpleasant recent events, I'd just like to show that this was not any kind of cry for attention on my part.
This is the obituary we and the funeral home put together for my grandfather, which appeared in three newspapers, including my home newspaper, the Times Picayune.  Nola.com is the official website for the Times Picayune, so anything that goes in the newspaper goes to the site for free (probably the ONLY free service they provide anymore).
http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=emmet-p-lajaunie&pid=142914015

But also as one final update...

After all is said and done, a full autopsy was not performed.  The death certificates, which we still have not received because the coroner's office is not actually located in the small town where he lived so it takes longer to process them, will only be stating "natural causes".  We can only speculate that he died of a return of the prostate cancer he had back in the 90's.  He never told us how bad it was, so that we wouldn't worry over him.  He even made his doctor swear not to tell anyone.  He refused to do any chemo, which we believe is what lead to his passing.

We shall be going to see my grandmother every weekend, and someone will be with her every day for as long as we can possibly make the money stretch.  Thank you for the kind words, it helped a lot.  And so I'll just leave it at that.

[Mao]

I wouldn't worry about the recent events.  There was nothing suspicious about your post and nothing that would lead any of us to believe that you had any motive other than honest and sincere grief and a desire to seek solace with some people who do know you.  I'm very sorry for your loss.

[Darkmoon]

Indeed. Your post seemed legit and wouldn't have raised any red flags, whether or not someone else came along and pranked the board.

I hope you and your family as dealing well with the situation.

[superluser]

I am very sorry for your loss, and I hope for the best for you and your family as they grieve.

You have my deepest sympathies.

[Damaris]

agreed - I am extremely sorry for your loss, and sad that the recent events caused you more stress in this difficult time.