September 7, 2007

Grandma's Angel of Death

Rate this encounter:

--- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Votes:45 Rating: Ratings Breakdown

Manuel, Orange, California, December 18, 2005

It was the beginning of December when I received a phone call from my father in Orange, California. He explained to me that my grandmother had a heart attack and that she was in the hospital. After the phone call, I packed a few day's worth of clothing and started the six hour trip to California. Upon my arrival at St. Joseph's Hospital, I checked in and visited my Grandma Sally. She seemed to be doing okay, but had to stay in the hospital for testing and for shortness of breath. I stayed with her that whole weekend then had to make the trip back to go to work. I did this for three weeks -- each week I visited her she began to look worse and her breathing was getting shorter. The last week of her life I can recall the doctor letting us know that she had cancer and her lungs were hardening, unable to take breaths. After weeping for some time we lied to her and told her she would be fine and be out in time for Christmas. That last weekend I can clearly remember being in the room with her and noticed her staring at a chair, but at the time I did not think anything of it. She would ask me to stay with her because she was scared. I asked her why she was scared and she explained to me in Spanish that there was a guy in black sitting in the chair by her feet sticking his big tongue out at her and throwing spider webs at her. I could tell she was scared. That evening I grabbed her holy water from home and bought some saints for her room. It was a very uncomfortable feeling when I would go into that hospital room seeing my grandmother focusing on that chair. I eventually had her moved to a room in front of the nurse's desk. The following morning they transferred her out to a hospice where she died two days later. My dad says she would tell him she could hear singing right before she died.