Of Near Heart Attacks and Summer Work

So I promised you guys that I had a story about my grandfather. I'm not totally sure of his height but he doesn't reach 6 feet, he's 70 years old during the last part of this story and at his highest weight was 297 lbs (134.7 kg).

Granddad is chronic smoker

Is also cook in family

He is from Pennsylvania but cooks and acts like a Southerner

Cookin' dat good ol' soul food

lotsofbutteroneverything.jpg

Has eaten like that for decades

It shows

Always talks about doing better but never does

Loves fattening foods too much

Goes in to doctor for something I can't remember

Doctor notices problem

Turns out Granddad was about to have a heart attack right there

Sent to hospital; stuff done to get him stable and surgery ordered

Has double bypass surgery

Asleep for two weeks afterward

Family unsure if he's going to make it

Wakes up

Body had gone through the worst part of smoking withdrawal while he was asleep

Suddenly no urges to smoke (still doesn't down to this day)

Gets standard information from doctor about cleaning up diet and not smoking

He gets super pumped

Swears he's going to clean up his diet and do things right

Lasts less than a month

Doesn't lose weight, doesn't clean up diet (and, by proxy, my grandmom's diet as she eats what he cooks)

Several years pass

Life is terrible for grandparents but we are too strapped with our own problems to be much help

They move closer to us

needmoniesbad.exe

Granddad reluctantly decides to find work out of state

His sister finds him a temporary job in Pennsylvania

Goes up in spring and stays until about November

This job involves lots of heavy lifting and running up and down stairs, etc.

We come to visit when he returns

mfw he has lost 40 lbs

Even better- he's learned to start cooking better

Now takes boiled eggs and a sandwich to work instead of the buttery fried leftovers he used to make

He's now totally excited about losing weight and is trying to do what he can

His weight loss has slowed down now as the work he does here is much less strenuous than the temp job but he's eating better.

Obligatory we're gonna make it