Background Noise: office noise
Last website visited: ____
Mood: stunned, getting everything set up
Right now i want... to be home

my grandfather passed away last night. he was my dad's dad, Williard Eugene Swenson Sr, engineer, father, speaker at his Church, organist, grandpa, neighbor and friend. the son of a coal miner, he was the one of the first programmers to work at Chrystler, and was the who turned me on to computers, and apple in general (he only ever owned macs). i was never allowed to use his computers by myself, from the time i was 5 on... even after i started college, he thought i was going to break something. :) it's not surprising that telling me i can't do something is a good way to motivate me to prove that i can, and that was the case here. so i owe him a lot. he could also be a grade-A jerk and general pain in the ass, but he always loved me, was proud how hard i worked. he had been sick for a long time, diagnosed with parkinsons several years ago, then put on a series of powerful drugs that did more harm than good. he stopped eating this weekend, and finally passed away, at home, the house he shared with his wife for the last 50 years.

i have to say, there were better ways for me to find out about what happened than how i did: a terse email from my uncle stating that he was gone with no extra details. it was the first thing i read this morning, and changed the course of my day and week. i'm going home tomorrow morning, i'll arrive around 4 in the afternoon, returning to california and work monday. i'll be working on the plane and at home -- not only do i have a ton to get done, but the distraction will be welcome.

though, as much as i knew this would be why i was going home next, i didn't want it to be this way.

i have to get back, i have a lot left to do, and i haven't even begun to realize what this means, or how this changes anything. so if i'm acting oddly in the next few days, please forgive me.