My mom just called from Russia to tell me that my grandfather died. He has been slowly dying over the last several months and was a huge burden on my mom whom he abused her entire life in all kinds of ways. He died in her hands, happy. She said for the last couple of days his demeanor changed, as if he felt his end coming. He stopped screaming insults at her when she tried to feed him or change him, stopped trying to hurt her, grew soft and thoughtful. Their last conversation, she said, was this: