A Sad Farewell

I appologize that this post is later in the month than I had anticipated.  Jennifer and I have had an interesting month, and I hope to fill you in on what has been going on.  We had an unexpected journey to the States, so I am not going to talk about our grocery shopping and class structure right now.  I will cover those things next time.

About one week before we returned to Mongolia in August, we learned that my Grandpa Milan Ruble was diagnosed with bone cancer.  It had spread throughout his body, and there was nothing that doctors could do.  The final assesment was that it was simply a matter of time.  This was very hard for us to learn.  Grandpa had battled with blatter cancer for some time before having an extensive surgery which removed several organs.  The aftermath of that operation was very hard on Grandpa.  It took over a year before he was back to the way that I remembered him.

We visited with him and Grandma in Missouri the week before he found out that he had bone cancer.  I will never forget that time.  He had already been struggling with illness and was weak, but he was still Grandpa.  He told us stories about when they were younger, many of them we had heard before, but we enjoyed them nevertheless.  Grandpa and Grandma visited three congregations with us and heard our presentation that many times.  They didn't mind, in fact, Grandpa said that he enjoyed hearing us talk about Mongolia and what life has been like.  They sat through the hour plus long slide shows at home and enjoyed them!  You know that they loved us!

It was very hard for us to return to Mongolia knowing that we may never see Grandpa alive agian.  After much consideration, we decided that when the time came for Grandpa to pass, if at all possible, we would return to the States.  Some said that he had up to six months, but we figured it would be less than that.  Grandpa was very tired from the past few years of struggle, and the cancer took its toll quickly.

The end of September, Grandpa was in and out of the hospital.  The first of October, it was determined that the only thing keeping him alive was his IV and medicines.  Knowing that death is not the end, Grandpa decided to be taken off the IV and let nature take its course.  With this decision made, we got round-trip tickets to return to the States for two weeks believing that he didn't have long left.

The day after arriving, we went to see Grandpa in the hospital.  He was very weak and in pain, but he was very happy to see us.  The trip was long and hard, but I will never regret going back.  It was such a joy to see Grandpa's smile and know that we had brought him such happines.  Both that day and the next, we were able to talk with Grandpa.  After that, he was so weak and frail that he was not able to do much of anything.  For the next week and a half, we watched Grandpa die.  This has got to be one of the hardest things that I have ever experienced.  Grandpa was always a big, strong, happy man; so it was very difficult to see him like that.  However, our Father saw us through everything.

Grandpa passed from this life to the next in the early hours of October 18th, one day after his and Grandma's 57th wedding anniversary.  We think that he was holding on for that.  Because he had lived on longer than anyone had imagined, we were getting very close to our return to Mongolia.  On the 17th, I had concluded that we would not be able to be there for his funeral, but He works all things out.  The funural was held on the 20th, and we flew out on the 21st.  Though it was a sad experience, I was very thankful to be able to attend Grandpa's funeral and honor him and his life.

Grandpa Milan was one of the greatest men I have ever known.  He had a strong faith, and he loved his family.  I would not be half the man that I am today apart from his influence.  I thank Him for the time that I had with Grandpa even though it seems all too short now.

In Memory of Grandpa Milan Ruble

1936 - 2010

You will never be forgotten.