Sandra Kay Finney Jan 21 1943-Aug 3 2009

It happened last night, it happened really fast. My granny passed away. I cant believe the whirlwind it has been since my last blog post. I posted that with the thought that SOMEDAY she was going to die. Not 3 weeks from then. I arrived in town on July 16, Thursday. I was so excited to visit my granny the next day, its what I look forward to the most when I come back to town. We got up early Friday and came right down. We spent the whole day just sitting in the living room talking, I got to tell her I was pregnant again, we ate ice cream sandwiches and just enjoyed the day. She seemed ok, she was smiling and sitting up and fine. That was Friday, July 17.

I came back on Sunday, July 26. She didn't know I was coming and was not her usual happy, talkative self. She was in pain and even though she tried to sit in the living room, she kept just dozing off while sitting up and trying to hide her pain. It was a hard day, When I left I kissed her and told her I would see her on Tuesday before I left (which was supposed to be Wed July 28). Monday afternoon my mom called me to say she had been in Muskogee all day because my granny had woke up, and asked for all her kids to be with her because she felt like it was the end. I came down on Tuesday and my heart broke. My granny was not my granny anymore. She was in serious pain, she could not get out of bed, she looked exhausted. The hospice nurse, Nancy, who deserves a blog post of her own because even though I only met her on Tues, is wonderful, she came over on Tues. My entire family was here and she basically had "the talk" with us. She said that this was it, my granny was ready to die, her body was done, and to not expect to her to live through the weekend.
WHAT how can you comprehend the thought of 4 more days with someone that you love. Our family just rallied. We slept in the floor, we took turns at her bedside, we talked to her, we held her hand. Watching my grandpa slowly let go was amazing. We had a few "scares" throughout the rest of the week, which I think was a good thing in the end, because we were all able to go through the initial emotions a few times, feel them and deal with them. By the time Sat, Aug 1 rolled around everyone was very tired and a little confused because she was holding strong, and even though she was "out of it" she didn't seem like she was near death. Sunday came and went. Monday around noon it started down hill. We got the call at 10pm that this really was it, me, my mom, and my sister all jumped in the car and got down to Muskogee. We pulled up to the house at 11:15pm, ran in, my mom leaned over her and said "Mama, its ok I am here, you can go now" and my beautiful, strong, loving Granny looked right at my mother, and took her last breath.

It was surreal, it was beautiful, it was horrible. She died just how she wanted. She had all 6 of her kids, 5 of her grandkids and her husband with her.

I am going to miss her more than I can even say. I hope that my life can honor her life.

Mel xoxo