I'm losing my grandmother. She is dying from an infection that hasn't been treated for years, apparently. She has been ready to die for as far back as my recent memory will search. I thought I was ready for her to go as well.
She raised me, as much if not more so than my parents. I think I learned more from her because she was so much more interesting than anyone else in my family. She let me smoke medicinal herbs when I was ten. She taught me how to shoot a rifle. She had so many fascinating stories to tell. I wish I had listened to more of them. She is the link to a heritage and community that I never knew I was interested in until just recently. That link is almost broken. It will be completely, soon.
My grandmother is dying, and with her, a part of myself.