My Pawpaw

Yesterday morning my Pawpaw (Daddy's Dad) passed away. He fell down the steps in their condo and never came back.
Mommy's Birthday was also yesterday.
Mommy had to go over and pick them up to take Pawpaw to the heart Dr. (he has not been in good shape for several months now), when she got there both Mawmaw and Pawpaw were waiting downstairs for Mommy inside the building so Mommy didn't need to go in and get them. Mawmaw walked out and Mommy helped her in the car, Pawpaw had told Mawmaw that he needed to go back in and get his pills (there was no reason for him to go back in and get them so we don't know why he did). After a few minutes Mommy decided she would go in and check on him. When she walked in he was laying there at the bottom of the stairs face-down. She went outside and got Mawmaw, brought her in and had her sit on a step close to him. They were both thinking he was already gone, even though neither of them said anything, Mommy knew it and she figured Mawmaw did too.
Mommy called 911 and when they got there, she said, they shocked him several times occasionally getting a heart-beat but it never lasted for like more than a second.
Chris and I were at home so after she called Daddy and his siblings, she called here and I answered the phone. Not expecting anything to be wrong I of course answered it cheerfully and she said, "Pawpaw fell down the stairs and I think he's gone, I need you to pray". I of course told her we would and then hung up. Chris and I were just about ready to play a game when she called and after she did we didn't know what to do so we sat there, I cried, Chris held my hand, and we both prayed separately.
About an hour later Tommy (our oldest brother) called and told us Pawpaw passed away. Chris and I got ready real quick and Tommy came to pick us up to take us to the hospital.
We stayed there for a long time until Mawmaw decided to say goodbye to her beloved husband, the rest of us went to say goodbye, they did what needed to be done and then we left.
Mommy, Chris, and I came home for a little while so Mommy and I could take some advil (I had a killer headache that lasted the rest of the day), we left to get something to eat, came back home to eat, and then headed over to Mawmaw's.
My cousin and her little baby were there (you can imagine I wanted to get a hold of the little baby as soon as possible!), Mawmaw was holding little Will and I wasn't about to take him from her or even ask. I was so grateful to see her holding him and playing with him and laughing, it was really lovely. (I did get to hold him later and he fell asleep in my arms:)).
The funeral for my Pawpaw will be held on Friday and because he fought in WW2 in the Army, there is going to be an Honor Guard, a flag, and I think Chris said maybe a 21 gun salute and "Taps" might be played.
Today Mommy has a killer headache so we're just kind of being quiet and I think I'm going to start up some laundry.
Unfortunately, I still can't get the picture out of my head of him laying there on the little bed in the hospital. He was so small, it just wasn't my Pawpaw. He was always smiling and happy.
When we were at Mawmaw's yesterday (it's so weird to not add "Pawpaw" to that), there was a lot of laughter and it just didn't sound right because Pawpaw wasn't laughing with us.
I will now leave you with a picture of my Pawpaw, one of my very favorite pictures of him (the one they chose to show at the funeral for it will be a closed casket after just the family says good bye.
We will never know why he said he needed to go back in and get his pills. Mommy said perhaps something was already wrong and he was confused or perhaps he was beginning to have a stroke. I thought (Mawmaw had said this to Mommy earlier, too) that maybe he knew something was wrong or knew that it was his time and he didn't want Mawmaw to be there when it happened.
We also don't know exactly how he died for he didn't have his pills in his hand so he didn't make it back up to their condo. His Birthday is tomorrow and he would be 84. He was a loving, caring, and kind man and he will certainly be missed.

Grace be with you all!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah