Well Grandpa passed on Friday, the 25th. I am still surprised by how fast the entire deal went. I can't believe that he is really gone. The visitation is tomorrow from 4pm to 8pm and the funeral is Wednesday at 11am. I've found his obituary and thought I'd post it below: 

 

John De Haan, age 78 of Waupun, died on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, at Waupun Memorial Hospital.

John was born on Aug. 6, 1932, in Zeeland, Mich., a son of the Rev. John H. and Grace (Rooze) De Haan. He married Dorothy Stiemsma on Dec. 13, 1952, in East Friesland at the First Christian Reformed Church of Randolph. John was employed at West Main Lumber Company in Waupun prior to working at Waupun Memorial Hospital in the Maintenance Department. John excelled at carpentry and woodworking. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and gardening. John loved Waupun's annual Truck' N Show, and volunteered a lot of time helping with that event. He always enjoyed spending time with his family. John was a member of the First Reformed Church of Waupun.

John is survived by Dorothy, his wife of 58 years; 10 children Robert (Carol) De Haan, Waupun; Selma (David) Klapper, Brandon; David (Lori) De Haan, Oakfield; Lori (Roy) Lemmenes, Waupun; Darlene (Dan) Coehoorn, Rosendale; Mary (Jon) Schmaltz, Waupun; Dorothy (John) Larson, Waupun, Joyce (Dave) Sturtz, Waupun; Dawn (Bruce) Niemuth, Fond du Lac; Lois De Haan, Waupun; 32 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He is further survived by his brother, James De Haan, Milwaukee; brothers and sisters-in-law, Ray (Judy) Stiemsma, Cambria; Bernice (Henry) Streekstra, Florence, Mont.; Margaret Verhulst, Randolph; and Helena Stiemsma, Friesland; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, John C. De Haan; and a brother-in-law, Gerrit Stiemsma.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the First Reformed Church, 422 W. Franklin St., Waupun, the Rev. Bob James officiating. Burial will follow in Forest Mound Cemetery.
John's family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Kohls Community Funeral Home, 405 W. Main St., Waupun; and on Wednesday at the church from 10 a.m. until the hour of service.

A memorial fund is being established in John's name.

Kohls Community Funeral Home, Waupun is serving the family.

I had a bit of a stomach ache today and have found that Tums work wonders (I'm addicted-I admit it! Ha!) Anyway, I went into the bathroom and found that I had a bottle of Tums and then a bottle of some knock off brand. I, of course, took two out of the Tums bottle because those taste SO much better than the knock off brand. I got to thinking about why I love the taste of Tums so bad and when it all started....

You'll never guess who got me hooked on Tums...Grandpa! :) I remember going to Grandma and Grandpa De Haan's when we were little and he always had a big bottle of Tums on the bookshelf next to his recliner and Kaitlyn and I always thought they were candy so we always asked for one. I remember he'd shake two out of the bottle and place one in each of our hands.

It might seem like a weird memory to carry with me but it makes me smile when I picture it. He's also the one who got me hooked on those foamy, nearly tasteless circus peanuts. Oh the memories. :)

I miss you grandpa and love you so much! 

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?

It's been a rough few days. We found out on Wednesday that my grandpa's (on my dad's side) lung cancer was back. He had surgery sometime last year to remove a few masses and that went really well but when he went into the hospital last few and had surgery for a bowel obstruction they found that the cancer was back and the doctor told him he'd need to see his oncologist but he had about six to nine months to live. 

We got a call yesterday morning then that he was not doing well and the doctor advised the family to come say good bye as he didn't think grandpa would make it through the night. I called into work and spent most of the day sitting with him and the family at the hospital. The pastor came in and read some and a couple of people came in and sang. Grandma sat by his side the entire day and through out the night. Her strength is inspiring and I wish I could be more like her. Ever since loosing Amanda in November 2008 I've been quite the sap. I can't hold my emotions back no matter how hard I try. It was a long day but he was still opening his eyes, recognizing people, and talking ( very little) when I left last night. 

I talked to mom a few hours ago and she said he's about the same..a little more raspy today. I'm thinking of going up to see him again tonight. 

I'm feeling quite drained over this. I keep thinking that I'm too young to loose my grandparents. My grandfather is only in his 70's...we have people at the nursing home I work at who are 101 and 102. I guess I'm mostly sad realizing that I'm getting to an age where my grandparents health might start to decline and that I might not have them around for too many more years. When I first heard on Wednesday that he had six to nine months I was sad but relieved that I had time to spend with him, time to make sure he knew how much I loved him and cared for him and now I don't have that time. It's a harsh adjustment to make. I was overly excited that he'd be able to see me graduate college. Or that I'd at least be able to visit him in my cap and gown or show him pictures or something. And now, I won't. I'm sure that's greedy of me to say but I haven't seen my grandparent's much since I started college and moved from my parents and that's something that eats me up. Grandpa and grandma always asked how school was when I saw them and they always made sure to remind me to stop by more often. I was sure when they saw me graduate college they'd be proud. I just keep reminding myself that he'll be there in my heart...just as uncle Johnny and Amanda are.

Never Ending Winter..Blah.

It's a blue, blue day....or should I say white with all of this darned snow?!?!

Talk about a blah, blah day! I've been on the couch doing school work since about 8:00am this morning but did take a little break this afternoon to (attempt) to nap. That didn't worked as well as I'd planned.

I'm home now attempting to talk myself into doing more school work. It seems like that's all I've been doing for the past two days...because well it is. Ha! And still the pile is bigger than ever. I did most of my care plan yesterday & finished it up this morning. Plus I did one case study & some reading from the book Bed Number Ten today. I've still got two case studies to do, a test to study for (which is on Friday), two meetings to schedule for work, my preceptor paper work to fax and two quizzes to take...I'm sure I'm forgetting something in there to. Opps. 

Speaking of tests...I got a 90% on my first Complex Health Alterations test! Whoo! I didn't feel all that confident going into it but apparently I'm smarter than I thought. :) Haha.

Not too much more to tell you. Just thought I'd complain a little cause that's what you're for dear blog, dear blog. Aren't you greatful?

A New Experiment

I'm starting this blog merely to chat about life. Not promising it'll be interesting in the least but some days it's nice just to have an unbiased place to vent about things. So, if anyone is reading this..bear with me and the boredom.

I was in an accident the 23rd of December. Talk about a merry Christmas right? It was all that bad of an accident but still an accident the same. I hit a car, a Corolla, after she slammed on her breaks too quickly. I hit her with enough force which caused her to hit the women in front of her. Long story short...I finially brought my car into Service Motors to be fixed on Tuesday. We had some hold ups with my bank and couldn't afford to pay the $500 deductible but with my tax returns I have the money now so I decided to have it done. I can't wait to have it all said and done with. I picked up my loaner car today. It's the exact car I wanted to buy when I bought my car but I couldn't afford it at the time, Shucks! It's a light green 2008 Ford Focus with a black interior. Love it! It also has that Sync system so I was messing around trying to figure that out today. Pretty cool that I can make phone calls through my car. They estimate having my car done on March 1st so it'll be a little while.

I went out to my parents tonight. I always love seeing them again. I miss living there & seeing them everyday even though we didn't get along the greatest when I did live there. Dad, Noah and I went to visit my grandpa who is in the hospital in Waupun. I'm not really sure why he's there to be honest...he went in with stomach pain but they didn't find anything wrong...guess we'll see how it turns out.

I'm home now watching The Parent Trap. Ah the days when Lindsay Lohan wasn't a filthy, stealing, tramp. Ugh, I can't stand her anymore but I love this movie just the same. I really should be working on school work-I have SO much to do it's not even funny. BUT, only 93 days until graduation!! Whoo!! :)

Anyway, that's all for now.