Gienio

DH's uncle, Gienio died in Montreal a few minutes past noon on Sunday, 2nd September 2007. DH's mum phoned me at midnight, when she got the news and I broke the news to DH. One of the harder things I have had to do.

At the end, Gienio didn't suffer. He'd been through so much in the last three years since they'd diagnosed him with lung cancer: partial removal of a lung, triple coronary bypass grafts, a wound from a chest drain that had to heal from the bottom up. He was in hospital for something else, not related to his cancer, when I think he either had a respiratory or cardiac arrest (nobody has told me for sure). After 72 hours on a ventilator, he was allowed to pass away.

I'm sure he was greeted at the pearly gates by my FIL, his big brother. The two of them were very close, even though they lived a long way apart. There was nine years between them. They died nine months apart.

At the explicit instructions of his aunt, DH did not fly to Canada for the funeral. She told him to come later, when we both could go, so that she can have some happy memories of his visit instead of sad ones. We will go in the middle of October.

God bless you, Gienio.

- Pam