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So life goes on. At 1:30 a.m. we learned that Joe's grandmother had passed. And this morning I went to a funeral of my friend's grandmother. And so it goes.

The good news is we'd just visited with her recently. She spent the entire stiff summer afternoon sitting outside watching the boys run and play, smiling as they chased bubbles and she got the chance to hold her Joey's hand for a while. The two hadn't seen each other in far too long, 23 years. A lot has happened in that time. But as they sat together in silence, that time apart didn't matter. There's nothing like that connection.

It was an emotionally draining day for everyone and as we pulled away from her nursing home I knew from my own experiences we'd never see her alive again. In retrospect, I feel like she may have been holding on just for that afternoon.

Since then I've spent time fantasizing about having one more afternoon with my grandparents who died at different important points in my life, at 15, at 18 just starting college and at 22, months before connecting with my future husband. My grandparents never got to experience Brennan's big kisses or Jack's conversation -- what a treasure for all of them.

I am so pleased Joe made the decision to see her. Now he can focus on his happy memories with the grandmother who took a young Joe to the Tigers game -- just the two of them. And in two weeks we'll drive down state to say goodbye one last time