Z day.

Rayma [21] and Pete [23]

Grandpa always did like his privacy. He passed quietly while we were away for dinner yesterday, shortly after I posted things I felt were silver linings for the situation. The nursing home called us at the house and by the time we all made it up there, he was already gone. 

Someone told us it might happen that way; we would step out of the room and he'd be gone. We're not a superstitious bunch, but we were all of the opinion that my Grandmother, in keeping with Scottish tradition that she descends from, was there and had come to get him yesterday. She passed back in 2004. 

I'm grateful it didn't last very long; that this suffering didn't go into the night, that his death came quickly. As we were packing up his things, I looked at the calendar  hanging on the wall, marked on yesterday's date with a big, black Z."He wanted to know when you were coming home," my mother explained. "Every time I saw him, he asked, so I marked the day with a Z so he would be able to see it, and crossed off the days. I think he was holding out to see you." Z, the 26th and last letter of the alphabet, the first letter of my name, and his last name. The only thing that could make this more ironic is that if the date was the 26th, and not the 27th.

I had to take the PRAXIS 2 this morning for El Ed assessment and curriculum or swallow the $115 for the test, since the window for cancelling is three days prior, no exceptions. I figured, what the heck, I'd give it a shot; the worst that would happen is I tank and I know what to expect. 

Over night, it had snowed. Not a lot, but enough that all the brown and melted off places were covered, and the trees looked as though someone had dusted them with powdered sugar or thick white frosting. Everything looked clean and fresh and new. It was probably the fatigue, but I thought I heard someone singing, of all things, Coldplay. 

Let me go boys, let me go
Push my boat from the highest cliff to the sea below
Rocks are waiting, boys, rocks await
Swoop down from the sky and catch me like a bird of prey

Now my feet won't touch the ground
Now my head won't stop
You wait a lifetime to be found
Now my feet won't touch the ground

Singing now my feet won't touch the ground
Now my head won't stop
You wait a lifetime to be found
Now my feet won't touch the ground

I got a raw score of 177 on my PRAXIS. We'll see what that means.