Hello, my grandpa passed away last Friday and I've been finding it helpful reading other people's similar experiences, and thought it might help to post my own.

I was quite close to him and it still doesn't feel that real at the moment. He had metastatic prostate cancer for approximately two years before he died, and although it was expected, I can't help but feel shell shocked. He's not the first grandparent to pass away, but I had a different relationship ( my other side of the family live in Scotland) with him and regularly used to see him. I work in healthcare and took him to appointments a few times, which I think he found comforting, and it made me feel like I was helping if only slightly.

He was a fit strong man for most of his life, and even two weeks before he died was still in his garden watering plants. The thing I found difficult was he never really acknowledged his prognosis, and it never seemed like it was going to beat him until he quite suddenly deteriorated. He didn't even want to talk about funeral wishes or anything like that. I just feel so hollow and sad constantly, it just doesn't seem real that I won't ever see him again. He was in a lot of pain during the end stages which was difficult to see, so I'm glad he's at peace now which is some comfort.

I know in time the pain will pass, and I'm lucky to have a lot of nice memories of him to look back on.