The summer of 2009 flew by for the Elliott household. Early in the season, my wonderful Peeps began having falling spells out at the Palace. His Parkinson's disease was taking over, rendering him unable to walk and talk well. After several hospital stays, a terrible accident left him unable to talk, and he was soon diagnosed with pneumonia. Because of his DNR, we treated him with antibiotics and great love but offered no extraordinary treatment. It was a very rough road for him and for us.
We were so blessed to have him placed in Bright Kavanaugh Hospice where he was able to live in the lap of luxury for almost 3 weeks. It was the most beautiful, strange, wonderful experience I've ever witnessed. He was a fighter until the very end; I don't think he wanted to leave any of us. He never quite recognized me in the hospital or hospice and if he did, he would get irritated with me. I never took it personally since I felt it was his way of preparing me for the end. I was able to read him a letter thanking him for everything and letting him know that I would be OK if he needed to go. Even though it broke my heart to read it to him, it was probably one of the best things I've ever done. Even though he was not "awake" when I read it to him, I told him in the letter that I so wanted to hear him say, "Hi sweet sweet!" like he always did. The next time I visited, our entire family was sitting with him outside. He looked at me and with a huge smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he proclaimed, "Hi sweet sweet!" just as I longed to hear, which brought me to tears. It was the last time I would get to see him, the Peeps I've always known.
The thing about my Peeps is that our relationship was much more than just one between a grandfather and his first granddaughter. He was my grandfather, but also, he was my father figure growing up. Better really...he was my biggest fan, my first love, and my favorite person in the world. I got all of the love and basically none of the discipline and criticism. I lived with them when I was little and when we moved away, he came for visits often and I spend summers with them. At the end of every summer, we would spend "our day" together. It was the day when I got to pick everything we did. Normally we'd hit up the Art Center and The Science Center. We'd eventually go to the Historical Society (cause he loved it) and then Showbiz Pizza for lunch. Many times we'd go to the Botanical Center too. It was the best. We'd just explore and talk and enjoy all of these wonderful places together. What a great guy! I was lucky enough to be able to work for him after we moved back to Des Moines and I got to see him as a regular person, not just my Peeps. When he told me stories of his youth, it was as though I could see that young man riding in the car next to me. And when he'd get to laughing about his childhood exploits, his eyes would twinkle and we'd just giggle. I was so lucky to be able to see him in that light as opposed to just the loving man that had helped raise me. I know I wouldn't have had that opportunity if we hadn't been so blessed with Brian finding his job back here. When I got married, Peeps walked me down the aisle. He was also the first person Brian went to to ask for permission to propose to me. He adored Brian...they talked football all the time. He always loved him and their mutual adoration of anything Hawkeyes was always paramount.
After saying goodbye to all of his children and grandchildren on what I like to call his "Last Hurrah" on Saturday, June 13th, he stopped eating and drinking and passed away early on the morning of June 20th, 2009. I miss him terribly, as does Brian and even little Harrison. When I get sad sometimes, Harrison always calls out "Peeps?! Where are you?!" and "Peeps? Cake?" which always makes me smile. I have great peace knowing that he's whole again, out of the pain that he must have felt being trapped in a body that no longer worked. We miss him here, but the goldfinches followed me all summer long and the Hawkeyes are 6-0....these are things than cannot be possible without a little help from above, and that's Peeps, I know it.
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