RIP Grandpa Dick

Just got word from my dad that his step-father Grandpa Dick just passed away. Yesterday he checked himself into hospice, and in a way I am very glad that he didn't last much longer. He was the sort of man who never wanted to be a burdon on anyone and once he made the decision to enter hospice he just wanted to be done. He was a very good man and took good care of my grandmother. He never wanted anything in return, and always seemed surprised when we treated him just like we would a full-fledged grandfather. When I was younger he used to act in local productions and got great joy from the stage. He had a gift for plants and their backyard was always beautiful.
The hard part about living so far away is I'm not sure what to do in a situation like this. It's the time where it's nice to be close to family, but who knows how many thousands of dollars a trip back would be a week out, plus that's two full days worth of travel. I suppose I knew when I made the decision to move that there might be a point when I'd have to think about this but it's definitely not the fun side of living on the other side of the world.
What really touched me this morning was before I found this out I found the cat curled up on the chair I have from their old house. It's a funny little short chair that I always loved and was happy to be able to bring with us. It will forever remind me of him, and realizing that George was curled up on it this morning when I've never seen him even touch it before gave me a very peaceful feeling.

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