The news I didn't want to hear

My grandfather, Frank Carter - my mother's father - passed away early this morning after a mercifully brief battle with cancer.

He was diagnosed just a few months ago, and this was something we knew would come before the summer was over. But I still clung to some hope that maybe he'd pull through. He never complained about what had happened to him, and while I knew this was inevitable, I never stopped hoping that his indomitable spirit would somehow pull him through.

I was planning to go to Badger's Quay, Bonavista Bay, to see him this weekend. Now I find myself preparing to travel there for a funeral. I'm deeply saddened that I didn't get to see him one last time - especially because I was thinking about going out there last night - but at least I will remember him before this terrible disease really began to take its toll. Maybe that's a blessing, in its own way. I'd rather remember him taking us out in his boat, through Badger's Quay and up around abandoned Safe Harbour, on beautiful spring mornings.

Frank was 80. He leaves behind his wife, four children, eight grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

I'll be travelling out today. The funeral will likely be Monday or Tuesday, so there will be no new posting until Monday night at the earliest.

Posted by damian at August 7, 2004 05:41 AM