My grandfather passed away today.
— Adam Schemm (@AdamSchemm) November 21, 2019
Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last beer with his sons. pic.twitter.com/6FnCGtG9zW
This photo captures the tender moment that 87-year-old Norbert Schemm was able to fulfill his dying wish of having one last beer with his son, wife, and three grandsons.
The picture isn’t just meaningful to the Schemm family, either; since Norbert’s grandson Adam shared it to Twitter last week, it has been shared more than 300,000 times—and many people are using it as a way to talk about their own meaningful experiences with late family members.
Norbert, who was from Appleton, Wisconsin, had been suffering from stage IV colon cancer when doctors knew that he would not survive the night. He then asked his wife to rally his immediate family members so they could share one last drink.
They spent the evening laughing, chatting, and reminiscing about times past. Norbert then passed away the following day.
Adam had been hesitant to share the photo because of its context, but he later told BBC that posting the picture to Twitter has helped his family to recover.
“It’s actually helped us with our grief,” said Adam. “It’s comforting to see that my grandparents and their children were all together in his final moments.”
“It seems to have tapped into a sense of community and clearly is a moment lots of people relate to. The comments have been so kind and we’ve seen pictures of people toasting bottles of beer in his honor. I thought people I knew might want to see it and respond but had no idea just how many people it seems to have helped.”
If you want to read some of the comforting social media comments left on the photo, you can check out Adam’s original Twitter post.
We’ll Cheers To That—Be Sure And Share The Heartwarming Story With Your Own Friends On Social Media…