This Kalosian Goodra recently learned that his favorite, beloved grandmother, who was a Hisuian Goodra who was in the hospital due to her age and cancer taking her, slowly, was being moved to Hospis, which filled him with great sadness. To help distract him and cheer him up, even if only a little bit, his friends and family gathered together and encouraged him to help decorate his home for the holidays. It took all day to finish, but everything was looking very festive and it lifted up Goodra's spirit a little. The very last thing they finished decorating was their 7-foot-tall Christmas tree, which was decorated with all kinds of shiny ornaments and they were all wrapped around with red and green Garlin. After everything was all said and done, they gathered around and took a family photo in front of the decorated Christmas tree so that they could share the holiday spirit with Goodra's dying grandmother. Sometime later, he took the picture to Hospis where his grandmother was being kept comfortable, showed it to her, and the two of them chatted for several hours. After a while, he gave his grandmother a big hug, told her how much he loved her, left the photo with her, and then went home.
One month passes, and Goodra receives the sad news from his sister that their grandmother finally passed away a few days prior. Unsurprisingly, this devastated him, and he was rightfully enraged because he wasn't told of her passing right away. The reason why she didn't tell him right away was because she too, was saddened by her passing and she needed time to get herself together and figure out the best way to tell her brother, which backfired massively. Goodra's sister then informed him of where their grandmother was buried and he raced off to her gravesite. On his way there, he raced by his friends as they were going about their business as tears were beginning to run down Goodra's face. Concerned, Goodra's friends dropped everything they were doing and followed their friend to the cemetery where his beloved grandmother was supposedly buried. When he found his grandmother's grave, the only thing he could do at that point was to sit down in front of it and begin to cry. Just as he began to sob, his friends showed up behind him and approached him slowly, without saying a word as they could tell what was going on right away. And so, they all gathered around Goodra, offering hugs and comfort as he grieves and mourns the loss of his favorite, beloved grandmother. As he continued to grieve, a ghostly apparatus in the shape of his grandmother appeared in front of him and his friends. The apparatus then gives a message to the grieving Goodra assuring him that everything is going to be okay and encouraging him not to cry. Even though they won't be around anymore, physically, they will always be with them inside their heart. Although the message was received, Goodra continued to mourn and grieve for his grandmother. So, he and his friends stayed together and kept each other company as Goodra's friends continued to comfort him as snow fell on all 4 of them throughout the night. The following morning, after he finally finished crying, he stood up and thanked his friends for being there for him when he needed them most. They then said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways for now, and then Goodra went home, apologized to his sister for taking out his anger on her, made up, and then hugged each other tightly as they went and spent the day together, reminiscing their happiest memories of their grandmother and how she blessed both of their lives with her presence.
This took quite a while to finish not only due to life getting in the way again, but I also revised this several times in my head before I drew what you see before you. Honestly, it took quite some time to figure out how I could best articulate my feelings into this drawing with my current skill set, which is why I didn't draw this right away when certain events occurred in my personal life, which I'll explain right now. Around the end of September, my grandmother, who was the wife of my 2nd late grandfather, who passed away last year, returned to her home after spending some time in the hospital after receiving treatment for some blood clots in her legs. She called me around the beginning of October before Mom and moved to our new home and we caught up with each other. I heard of what was going on with Grandmom from my sister prior to Grandmom calling me and as we were chatting and catching up, I told her that I was thankful that she was still alive after her ordeal and that I loved and missed her. Little did I know, that this would be the very last time I'd ever be able to speak to her again while she was alive as in November, she was back in the hospital again after suffering from a stroke while she was at home. The reason I knew this was due to the information received from my grandmother's daughter, which was then passed onto my sister, and then was finally passed onto my mother and myself simultaneously. My sister kept us updated and informed as we all live in separate states and my sister was the closest to where Grandmom was being kept. A short time later, my sister informs us that our grandmother was being moved to Hospis, which meant only one thing; it was almost time for her to go. While Grandmom was being moved to Hospis, my sister and my grandmother's daughter put up and decorated a Christmas tree in Grandmom's house and then took a picture of it so that they could celebrate one last Christmas with Grandmom before she inedibly passed on. On the evening of November 15th, 2023, my sister called Mom and informed us that our grandmother finally passed away. As I overheard the news from my room, I went over to Mom as she hung up the phone with my sister and asked her if Grandmom passed away. She told me "yes" and I then went over, sat next to her on the couch, leaned my head on her shoulder, and cried. This entire series of events is what inspired this drawing in the first place. The hardest part was figuring out the best way to express my feelings on this drawing. Even when writing/typing up this story, I began to cry a little bit. Needless to say, I loved my grandmother and it was fun talking to her over the phone during the past 10 years I've been living in Maine. I'll always cherish the memories of spending many Christmases with her, my dad, my sister, and my 2nd grandfather throughout the years while I was still living in Maryland.
Some of you may be wondering, why didn't I go to see my grandmother before she passed away and why was my sister the only one keeping my mother and I in the loop? There are a few reasons: 1) My mother and I live in Maine and my grandmother lived in Maryland. 2) My sister lives in Pennsylvania, in a town near the Maryland state line, which means that she lives closest to where Grandmom once lived. And 3) Mom and I just moved into our new home, which was further up in Northern Maine and we didn't have the money to purchase me a 2-way plane ticket between Maine and either Pennsylvania or Maryland. TL;DR: Financial difficulties and poor timing prevented me from seeing Grandmom off on her deathbed.
