Grandpa Merrill passes away

Grandpa Jesse Albion Merrill passed away yesterday at 8:00 PM.  Many of his grandchildren came over to his house yesterday early in the day to help take down Christmas lights, prune rose bushes (which was one of his pride and joys of life) and to just spend the day with him and Grandma Lucinda.  His vitals were strong, so the thought of having to say goodbye yesterday didn't seem a reality at first.  We thought we were going to have a little more time with him.  Nichole has been spending day and night with her mom and dad for the last couple of weeks ever since he first went into the hospital for weakness and fatigue where they found the reason for him not feeling well.  His cancer had returned.  He first had cancer nearly 40 years ago when Rachel was really young.  His family has been blessed to have him here for another nearly 40 years since that first cancer diagnosis.  However, this second time around was the time the disease took grandpa to his celestial home.  He is a good man.  In his final moments, he was surrounded with Dave, Rachel, Nichole and Mom by his side.  He was holding Nichole's hand when he so tenderly looked for Lucinda's hand and held her hand for the last 15 minutes of his earthly tenure. It was as if he needed his wife to let him know it was okay to go.  It was a tender moment for Nichole and her mom.  We love dad, grandpa and we will miss him until we meet him again.  When Nichole first told me Grandpa passed away, I was over at my mom and dad's house.  I had gone over to their house to spend the night with my dad and mom and to watch the BYU/Gonzaga basketball game.  Soon after the game started at 8:08 PM, Nichole called me and told me the news, so I went over to grandma and grandpa Merrill's house.  There, I was able to see Nichole, Scott, Rachel, Dave, Dean, and Mom with Grandpa's body lying on the hospice bed.  He looked at peace. I was able to hug grandpa and say my final goodbye. We then called Brad and Jake and let them come over to say goodbye to Grandpa while I went home with Ava and Eli. Grandma didn't want all the small grandchildren to see grandpa lifeless.  But, she also wanted to have some more private time with him, so we respected her wishes to not bring over all the small grandchildren. I left and went home to be with Ava and Eli while Brad and Jake went over to say their final goodbyes.  When I got home, I let Ava and Eli know that Grandpa had passed away.  Ava was asking me how grandpa was doing, and I couldn't not tell her.  We had our tears together and hugged each other and then Eli asked what the matter was.  We then told him that grandpa had said goodbye to this life.  Eli had been eating a small chocolate donut, but upon hearing me tell him about grandpa, he started crying and saying, "Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa".  He was super sad as well as Ava.  I picked him up and held him and then we hugged and embraced for quite a while.  We have been blessed to have such a wonderful man in our lives!!  God be with you until we meet again, Dad and Grandpa

Eli, after Grandpa's passing and while we were at his house, wanted to look at pictures of Grandpa. Such a tender heart! Grandpa had just had this sunroom built off the kitchen and was so looking forward to enjoying it