Push Button Paradise

I'm still in shock about this, but this morning I got the kind of phone call you never want to get. My grandfather, Robert Haworth, who was laughing and joking around at home earlier in the evening, was admitted into the hospital with shortness of breath. Around 4:30 am he died of a heart attack. There's still lots of unanswered questions about the details.

"Grandpa Bob" was without exaggeration the kindest and most generous person I've had the privilege of knowing. A true midwesterner, a farmer, going beyond what you've heard about that famous work ethic. A man of few words, but if you got into any kind of trouble, he'd be there in an instant.

Anytime life seems like it's moving in a straight line, it seems like a curve like this comes along and knocks you down. I'll be heading down to Phoenix in a few days along with the rest of my family scattered around the States.

My immediate goal is just to keep functioning at something resembling a normal level. Compared to this, things like writing a novel (which I just finished) seem petty in comparison, don't they? -m

posted at: 22:55 | under: 2005-11 | 6 comment(s)