Grandpa on Deathbed celebrates Life

WASHINGTON: A picture of a Winsconsin family holding beer and celebrating with an octogenarian on his hospital deathbed connected with social media users in a big way.

Family patrick Norbert Schemm, 87, of Appleton had wished that his loved ones were beside him in his final moments while he sipped a beer. The family talked and laughed and reminisced before taking a picture of the group, which his son Tom shared on the family Whatsapp group.

Hours later the senior Schemm died, following which his grandson Adam Schemm posted the family picture and wrote on Twitter handle @Adamschemm: “My grandfather passed away today. Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last beer with his sons.” It had garnered 30.8K retweets and 320.6K likes on Twitter. It had more than 4,000 comments, turning up on Reddit and other social platforms.

Replying to @Adamschemm, one user wrote: “I missed doing that with my father by 3 hours. You’re very lucky. I’m beyond sorry for your loss.” Another wrote: “We did the same with our beautiful Dad in July this year. Though no alcohol was involved!! My condolences to all your families. Xx”.

A user posted a family picture with his grandfather and remarked: “I lost my grandpa a year ago. It took all his strength but we got him out to eat the best steak money could buy. Besides steak, all he wanted was a ‘Wisconsin’ Old Fashion and to try espresso for the first time. He was alive for one more night before he passed 7 days later.”