Dying and the Broken Branch

When he dies, does Grandpa S. know that he will leave behind a broken family, threads loose in the wind? As I watch him lying on the hospital bed, his neck swollen, darkened red and black, his inability to eat any solid food, his coughing up thick mucus tainted with blood, I wonder if he knows all of this? And somehow, I believe he does. But for reasons unknown to me or Mother, he has entrusted his knownledge only to his favorite daughter and son – both of whom live on lands far beyond the oceans.

He is a devout man, who believes he’s lived according to God’s words. He is a great man, with innovative ideas. When he was rich, he loved all and they loved him. And though he no longer possesses the riches taken away when he left the old country to escape death, his name is still revered and people remember him as the Mr. S, the photographer.

Grandpa S. knows all about the world, the problems that breed and fester, but for which he has answers to cure. And yet, his family has crumbled, and he does nothing, or does he know he cannot do anything?