Chapter XI
March 1, 2005
William sat in his grandmother's room. She slept. She had been diagnosed with Stage
4 lung cancer at the beginning of the year and her health had declined since.
She stopped eating a few weeks ago and needed constant care. William, Willow, and
their father would take turns sitting with her.
Since William had the day off, he spent most of the day with her. His father would
come to relieve him after dinner.
He hated seeing her like this. She was finally as frail as they treated her for
years.
When his grandfather died of a heart attack, it was sudden. No one had expected it.
As hard as going through his grandfather’s death was, William thought this was
worse. He could see his grandmother change for the worse every day.
William thought of his grandmother as a fighter but knew she wouldn’t win the
battle. William could tell she tried staying upbeat for the sake of their family.
As the cancer ravaged her body, she slept more. Now, she was only awake for a few
hours a day.
William loved his grandmother and wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t like being
there. He didn’t know how he would react if she passed while he was alone with her.
He tried to push the thought out of his mind and think about something else.