The last minute...

"Gramps was not looking anything like he did a few weeks ago. He was thinner and gaunter, and he was in and out of sleep. Gramps looked up at George with some tears in those steel gray eyes. 'I am not good champ' Gramps said, 'I think I am coming to the end of this train ride.'" 

George received a call from his mother. "George, I know you have seen grandpa recently, but I think it is important that you visit him now." This puzzled George. He had just seen his grandpa a few weeks ago. And George hated hospitals. But for his grandpa, whom George was very close to, he would do it. "Okay Mom. I will visit Gramps tomorrow. I promise."

George was really close to his grandpa. As far as George was concerned, his grandpa was one of the bravest men he ever knew. Gramps was in the Korean War. He was a Marine. He was a decorated combat veteran. He saw lots of action. In fact, Gramps was part of the Chosin Few - a real tough battle in a tough war, based on what George had read in the history books. Gramps did not like to talk about it however - not a memory that Gramps wanted to share.

When he got to the hospital, visiting hours had just started. The hospitalist had just left, so George had Gramps all to himself. "How are you today, Gramps?" Gramps was not looking anything like he did a few weeks ago. He was thinner and gaunter, and he was in and out of sleep. Gramps looked up at George with some tears in those steel gray eyes. "I am not good champ" Gramps said, "I think I am coming to the end of this train ride." 

George was almost speechless. He had never seen Gramps like this before. George reached over and touched his grandpa's hand. "You will beat this thing, Gramps. You will get better and come home. I just know you will!" Gramps took George's hand and said, "No George, I won't. The doctor was just in here and told me there was nothing more they could do. I am on what is known as palliative care right now, which I guess means just to keep someone comfortable. I appreciated the doctor's honesty, however. He told me the end could come in days - maybe less."

Gramps turned his head away and shut his eyes very tightly. He then looked back at George with moist eyes. "George, I am scared - very scared. I don't want to die. I am afraid of what will happen to me."

As long as George knew his grandpa, he never saw him scared. And he never saw him in church. Well, except when Grandma died. Never said one word about any faith he might have. The rest of the family were deep in the faith and had asked Gramps many times to come to church with them. Each time, Gramps politely refused.

George held Gramp's hand tightly and looked at him squarely in the eyes. George knew this might be the most important conversation he had ever had with his grandpa. "Gramps, I have some news for you. No, not just news, some real good news. I learned when I became a follower of Jesus, that there is nothing so good we can do in our lives that God would love us more, and there is nothing we can do which is so bad that God would love us less. Gramps, the door is still open for you. You can change things right here and right now. I always carry a copy of the Salvation Prayer in my wallet, in case I should ever need it. If you like, you can accept the gift of Jesus right here with me. Then you will never fear again. When you die, you will live with Jesus as well as all the saints who have gone on before you."

Gramps looked up at George and said, "That might work for some folks George, but not for me. Besides not living with God in my heart most of my life, I was never baptized, never took communion, and as you know, never went to church. No, I would have too much catching up to do to even come close."

George knew he must continue with the right words. "Gramps, do you remember the story when Jesus was crucified and there were men on both sides of him, also being crucified? Both were criminals. One rejected Jesus, and the other accepted Jesus right there. That man lived a bad life, probably never went to any church of any kind, and did not deserve Heaven. But Jesus told him, that at the end of that day, he would be in Paradise with Jesus. Gramps, it is never too late. Not even until the last minute of your life."

With that, Gramps asked George to take out the prayer he had in his wallet and pray with him. George took out the prayer, held it on one hand, and held Gramp's hand with the other. Together they prayed, and Gramp's asked God for forgiveness of all his sins, and he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. When it was over, George leaned over, and they hugged for the longest time. It was a moment George would never forget.

The next morning, right before breakfast, the phone rang at George's mother's house. It was the hospital. Gramps had passed in his sleep. The nurse who called, was the one who discovered Gramps had died. The nurse told George's mother she had never seen such a look of peace and tranquility on Gramp's face before. 

George's mother called George with the news. George just sat for a while when he got off the phone. He said a silent prayer, thanking God for the day before. George was thankful he could be the hands and feet of Jesus for his Gramps.

Then George said in a very still and quiet voice, "Goodbye for now Gramps. Until we see each other again."

Author's note: This story was fiction - sort of. It was based on stories I have heard from others who have had the privilege and honor to help a friend or loved one, cross that bridge to Jesus when the minutes remaining were few.