I know I didnt write for quite a while, but after being at the Rhein in Flammen fireworks I got very very sick and stayed in bed basically for 6 days. Now I am recovering slowly, I'm still not totally fine, but am finally able to go out and be a bit active again!
It all started with the Rhein in Flammen event I have been writing about before. I went down to the island Grafenwerth to meet some people. We were quite a big group, just sitting in the grass, talking. Over time more and more people came and finally the fireworks started!
After the fireworks we went over to the stage. Around the fireworks there is always some kind of supporting program, which is basically a carnival! There are many stalls for eating, drinking and also games like shooting galleries and stuff. At the one end there was a stage where a band from Hamburg was playing all evening. We were in front of the stage, dancing and having a good time. When the band stopped playing we went to the Rheinsubstanz, the club here in Bad Honnef, to finish the evening.
The next morning, when I got up I felt like sh*t! I thought it was a normal hangover, but over time I realized that I actually had caught a nasty gastro-intestinal infection. I will spare the details, but this thing caused me to sleep basically 6 days straight.
On Tuesday I went to the doctor, where I first of all got an IV to re-hydrate my body and to get some electrolytes. She also gave me some medicine and put me on sick leave for the rest of the week. Therefore I called my dad, who is working in Bonn, just on the other side of the Rhine, and asked him to pick me up and take me to Aachen. I just wanted to go home; home, still, is the best place when you are sick like that!
I anyways had intended to go to Aachen that weekend in order to visit my grandpa, who wasn't doing very well in the retirement home. I wanted to visit him, just in case he would get worse. Then, exactly in the night, when I was back in Aachen the one thing happened I had feared: He died!
He, however, did not get worse, he did not suffer, he just fell asleep and didn't wake up. He died at the age of 96, I guess it was his time. My mum, who saw him lying in bed said, that he looked very peaceful and somehow happy. The next days she spent together with her sister taking care of all the formalities and bureaucracy that is connected to dying!
I spent the weekend in bed and on the couch and walking aimlessly around the house. I had told A. not to come to Aachen, since I was anyways not really up for doing anything; it was the right decision for her to stay in Hamburg!
The funeral of my grandpa was today! On Monday I went with my dad to Bonn and then took the car over to Bad Honnef. I went to university for one lecture and picked up my suit for the funeral. In the evening we went back to Aachen.
The funeral today was quite emotional. I have to say, that I liked my grandpa very much. Although I didn't see him so often in the last years and going there was more a hassle, than a joy - thats at least how I perceived it - I know that I will miss him. Every time I saw him it was funny. He was all the time joking and he was all the time happy. He was like a grandpa has to be!
Now I am back in Bad Honnef. After the funeral and the get-together my dad brought me to the train station and I took the train back to Bad Honnef. I went straight to my last lecture in Change Management and was happy, that I went there. In the afternoon I went together with my flatmate S. to the island of Grafenwerth and now I just started cooking; I'm making lamb and potato croquettes!
~M~
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