One of Duke's oldest alumni...

[Reisen]

is very ill. My grandmother was born in January of 1909, and attended Duke in the 1930's (she also has a masters degree from Michigan). My grandfather, long passed away, had an offer to play football for Wallace Wade, but chose to be a Methodist Minister in Georgia, instead. It was fun seeing pictures of her at my age in front of the same buildings on campus, 70 years earlier.

At nearly 101, we knew we didn't have much time left with her. Please keep her in your prayers.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

is very ill. My grandmother was born in January of 1909, and attended Duke in the 1930's (she also has a masters degree from Michigan). My grandfather, long passed away, had an offer to play football for Wallace Wade, but chose to be a Methodist Minister in Georgia, instead. It was fun seeing pictures of her at my age in front of the same buildings on campus, 70 years earlier.

At nearly 101, we knew we didn't have much time left with her. Please keep her in your prayers.
Vibes for your grandmother. }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[DevilAlumna]

is very ill. My grandmother was born in January of 1909, and attended Duke in the 1930's (she also has a masters degree from Michigan). My grandfather, long passed away, had an offer to play football for Wallace Wade, but chose to be a Methodist Minister in Georgia, instead. It was fun seeing pictures of her at my age in front of the same buildings on campus, 70 years earlier.

At nearly 101, we knew we didn't have much time left with her. Please keep her in your prayers.

Reisen, I just celebrated my grandma's 100th in September. It's 50/50 odds she'll see 101, so I feel I understand your situation.

My prayers and vibes to your grandma, and to your family, that you are able to enjoy your remaining time together, and that if an end is near, it's peaceful and gentle.

[DukieInKansas]

I'm sorry to hear of your grandmother's illness. Enjoy all the time you have left. It is very cool that you have pictures of her on campus. I'm sure you have shared some fun memories of campus together.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Give her gentle hugs for all of us! Help her feel the great big circle of the Duke community that still surrounds her.....and you. Keep us posted.
Love, Ima

[weezie]

God bless her!

[CameronDuke]

May she feel God's sincere and genuine comfort each and every day. Grandparents are the best. Godspeed.

[Chris4UNC]

is very ill. My grandmother was born in January of 1909, and attended Duke in the 1930's (she also has a masters degree from Michigan). My grandfather, long passed away, had an offer to play football for Wallace Wade, but chose to be a Methodist Minister in Georgia, instead. It was fun seeing pictures of her at my age in front of the same buildings on campus, 70 years earlier.

At nearly 101, we knew we didn't have much time left with her. Please keep her in your prayers.
She has obviously lived a rich life. I love looking at old photos like that of my own family. I hope that her last days will be easy and painless if these are in fact her last days. It is very hard to imagine life without someone so dear. My own grandmother passed away about 18 months ago at 91. Being very ill we knew that it was better for her to go on. I hope for the best for your family.

[Reisen]

Thank you all for the kind words.

I caught a 6am flight the morning after I wrote this, to go visit her. It was easily the hardest thing I have ever done (which I suppose speaks to what a great life I have had, never having lost a parent, sibling, or child), but also the most rewarding. Hearing her whisper "I'm so glad you came", "I love you", and "We don't have much time left" was tear-jerking.

The neat part, though, was the constant parade of people coming in to see her: friends from the many places she's lived, people from the churches where my grandfather was Minister, and even the kitchen staff of the facility where she lives!

It's been a week, and she's still hanging on. I've learned a lot about the dying process, loving, and saying good-bye. I will say that it is remarkable how resilient the human body is. Even at nearly 101, despite wearing down, it doesn't want to give up!

[Indoor66]

Thank you all for the kind words.

I caught a 6am flight the morning after I wrote this, to go visit her. It was easily the hardest thing I have ever done (which I suppose speaks to what a great life I have had, never having lost a parent, sibling, or child), but also the most rewarding. Hearing her whisper "I'm so glad you came", "I love you", and "We don't have much time left" was tear-jerking.

The neat part, though, was the constant parade of people coming in to see her: friends from the many places she's lived, people from the churches where my grandfather was Minister, and even the kitchen staff of the facility where she lives!

It's been a week, and she's still hanging on. I've learned a lot about the dying process, loving, and saying good-bye. I will say that it is remarkable how resilient the human body is. Even at nearly 101, despite wearing down, it doesn't want to give up!

It is a painful process you go through. My thoughts and prayers are with your grandmother, you and family and friends.

You post reveals that you see the beauty as well as the culmination of the life process. All of us face this. I hope I can be as complete a person as you reveal your grandmother to be. Bless you both.

[BlueDevilBaby]

How wonderful to know she has touched so many lives and how lucky you were able to give her some joy with your visit. I've lost love ones suddenly and from afar without the opportunity to say goodbye, except for my childhood dog whom my parents were going to put down (which was a most gut-wrenching, sad experience for me). We should all be so lucky to live such a long and what sounds like a full life. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

[cspan37421]

I'm so glad you got there in time. I didn't, for my grandpa who also went to Duke in the 1930s. I was about 12 hrs too late, though probably more than that if you factor in coherence.

One neat memory I had was looking through his Duke yearbook with him. It was a tie we had, because amazingly to me, his yearbook (c. 1933) seemed to be the exact dimension of my own. In it, Duke Chapel is pictured and in the picture it was in the process of construction. It was about half of its height, with scaffolding all around. He enjoyed mine very much, with the color foldout of the 1986 NCAA Final getting underway.