My Grandpa - August 2, 1930 - May 13, 2014

My grandpa and grandma at the beach during Christmas in 2010

My grandpa, Elmo Hall, passed away on Tuesday, May 13th, 2014, surrounded by his family.

Where do I start? There's so much to say. My grandpa was such an incredible man. I couldn't have asked for a better family. My grandma passed away a little over a year ago and ever since then my grandpa has not done well. He was diagnosed with cancer 2 days before she died and then dementia shortly after she died. It's incredible to see how much he loved her. He couldn't imagine life without her, so when she died, he seemed lost. The dementia took over and he had to move into a retirement home, and then got worse and had to move into assisted living. Because of various things, he had to move 2 more times and finally ended up back at home with 24/7 care. We knew he wanted to be home.

However, when we got him home, he deteriorated very fast and we didn't know what to do or what was causing it. He was admitted to the hospital to a geriatric diagnostic center that was an hour away from where we all live. We were told he would be there for about a week and that they would get his medicines all straightened out and get him more stable to come back home. He had only been home for a week before he was admitted to the hospital.

In the hospital, they started doing all the tests and found out that he was in acute kidney failure along with heart failure and several other issues. We had no idea how sick he was. No one did, not even his 24/7 caregivers. At first we were told the renal failure could be reversed, but he kept getting sicker and sicker.

He was in the hospital for a week before we really realized how sick he was. Three days before he died, we realized that he would not recover from this. His body was tired. We wanted to get him transferred to a hospital where we live since the hospital he was in was an hour away but he was too sick and frail. So we started calling family and he was started on hospice to keep him comfortable.

Monday, May 12th, people started arriving to say goodbye to him. So many people drove the hour to the hospital to see him. He was so loved. That day was spent holding his hand, talking to him, and just being with him. He was still a little responsive, but not much. We listened to worship music a lot that day. My mom, aunt, and I spent the night with him in the hospital on Monday night. I spent most of the night watching him breathe, cherishing every moment because we knew that he didn't have long.

More people came on Tuesday and by then he wasn't responsive anymore, but we were told he could still hear us, so we talked to him a lot.

We each got time alone to talk to him. I did this with my best friend right before she passed away from cancer, and also with my grandma right before she died last year. I told my grandpa that it was okay to go. That when God called him, he needed to run to God. I told him that we would miss him so much but that we would be okay. We would take care of each other. I told him how much I loved him.

Once we all got a chance to talk to him, his breathing changed and we knew it wouldn't be much longer. My dad, brother, mom, aunt, and I were all there. I was holding his hand and at 4:48pm, God called him Home. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8

My grandpa has received his reward for being so faithful and by God's grace.

Sitting by him, treasuring every minute

Holding his hand as God called him Home

My grandpa died on my mom's birthday. Someone mentioned that my grandpa also got a birthday that day and we loved the thought of that. While my mom celebrated her physical birthday into this world, my grandpa gained a new birthday- a birthday into Heaven- the best birthday there is!

I think my grandpa would have been happy with how his funeral turned out. It was perfect, if you can say that about a funeral. There were so many funny stories about him and also stories that showed how much he loved our Savior. He was truly an incredible man and I miss him so much.

This is a song that we used during the slideshow during the funeral and I love it. It's called See You in a Little While by Steven Curtis Chapman.


"I hold your hand and watch as the sun slowly fades
Far in the distance the Father is calling your name

And it’s time for you to go home
And everything in me wants to hold on
But I’m letting you go with this goodbye kiss and this promise
I’ll see you in a little while
I’ll see you in a little while
It won’t be too long now
We’ll see it on the other side
The wait was only the blink of an eye
So I’m not gonna say goodbye
‘Cause I’ll see you in a little while
And just one more thing before I let you go
Please tell my little girl I love her
Though I’m sure she already knows
And ask the Father to please tell the Son
That we’re ready and waiting for Him to come
I’ll see you in a little while
I’ll see you in a little while
It won’t be too long now
We’ll see it on the other side
The wait was only the blink of an eye
So I’m not gonna say goodbye
‘Cause I’ll see you in a little while
Maybe you’ll teach me all the songs they sing in heaven
Maybe you’ll show me how you can fly
And I’ll hear you laugh again
And we won’t remember when
We were not together and this time it’s forever
I’ll see you in a little while
I’ll see you in a little while
It won’t be too long now
We’ll see it on the other side
The wait was only the blink of an eye
So I’m not gonna say goodbye
‘Cause I’ll see you in a little while
I’m gonna see you in a little while"

Here are some pictures from his funeral.

Beautiful flowers on the casket 

Landon and I before the funeral 

I took this flower from the casket and dried it so that I can keep it forever

Someone drew this incredible picture of me holding my grandpa's hand as God called him Home. I will cherish this picture forever!

See you in a little while Dia Dia... (when I was little I couldn't say grandpa, so I called him Dia Dia and ever since then, that's what we all called him)