My grandparents
Laura and Howard have been married 73 years. In this video, (titled “You’ll
Never Know – Hospice Patient” on Youtube.com), Howard is 92 and Laura is 93.
Laura (Grandma) is at a hospice facility making peace with her final days. I
was lucky enough to capture this precious, heart-melting moment between the two
of them. Howard (Grandpa) is singing to her their love song, the song that
comforted her when he went away to fight in World War II.
At family
gatherings, it was not uncommon for the two of them to sing this song together,
each taking a verse and serenading the other. In fact, after fifty years of
marriage, they renewed their vows and performed this song as a duet for the
entire family at the reception. Sadly, Grandma is now too weak to sing, but
that doesn't stop her from saying the words to him. Howard then takes over for
her and sings the rest of the song to her while stroking her face.
Moments before this video began, when Grandma heard that Grandpa was in the room, she asked if she could hold him. Grandpa cannot stand on his own, but he immediately pulled his wheelchair close to her bed ready to make it happen. My cousin, Serena, who is a physical therapist, helped him to his feet and held him up throughout the entire song.
You might notice above her bed there is a sign that says, “Patient is Blind.” That is because she has macular degeneration, so she cannot see much of anything but shadows and light. That doesn’t stop her from looking deep into her love’s eyes. Grandpa, on the other hand, has lost most of his hearing, so you’ll notice us repeating things for him since Grandma is to weak to raise her voice.
The song used in the video is “You’ll Never Know” performed by Rosemary Clooney with Harry James. Our family prefers this version because everyone always said Grandma had a voice just like Rosemary Clooney.
After posting this video to Facebook, it began to go viral and all the outpouring of love lifted everyone's spirits... including Grandma's! Hospice eventually deemed her well enough to go back home to live out her remaining few days. As of this posting my beautiful Grandma Laura Virginia is still with us resting peacefully at home. Our family along with the wonderful people from hospice are taking care of her and making sure she remains as pain-free and comfortable as possible while she prepares for her nearing departure. We all thank you so much for the love and kind words.
Moments before this video began, when Grandma heard that Grandpa was in the room, she asked if she could hold him. Grandpa cannot stand on his own, but he immediately pulled his wheelchair close to her bed ready to make it happen. My cousin, Serena, who is a physical therapist, helped him to his feet and held him up throughout the entire song.
You might notice above her bed there is a sign that says, “Patient is Blind.” That is because she has macular degeneration, so she cannot see much of anything but shadows and light. That doesn’t stop her from looking deep into her love’s eyes. Grandpa, on the other hand, has lost most of his hearing, so you’ll notice us repeating things for him since Grandma is to weak to raise her voice.
The song used in the video is “You’ll Never Know” performed by Rosemary Clooney with Harry James. Our family prefers this version because everyone always said Grandma had a voice just like Rosemary Clooney.
After posting this video to Facebook, it began to go viral and all the outpouring of love lifted everyone's spirits... including Grandma's! Hospice eventually deemed her well enough to go back home to live out her remaining few days. As of this posting my beautiful Grandma Laura Virginia is still with us resting peacefully at home. Our family along with the wonderful people from hospice are taking care of her and making sure she remains as pain-free and comfortable as possible while she prepares for her nearing departure. We all thank you so much for the love and kind words.
(Description from a video
on youtube.com)
*Having sang gospel hymns for several of my dying
family and friends I can relate so well to this story.
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