gramps...

So, the funeral is friday, the visitation is tomorrow.  We will be leaving for Cozad around lunch tomorrow...Armen will bring the girls back with him friday night and I will stay with my family till Saturday night when my brother will bring me home.  So that's the plan...prayers still appreciated.  Now for why I am actually posting...I spoke at my grandma's funeral...it wasn't eloquent and I barely made it through...God's hand of grace was upon me to give me the emotional strength to do it...but I did.  So, I have decided, I am going to attempt to speak at grandpa's.  I say attempt as I don't know if I can do it...I am NOT a public speaker, hate having eyes on me and am an emotional basket case...on the inside for the moment...having twins doesn't allow for a lot of time to stop and deal with your grief...seriously.  I am expecting a big fall apart in the next day or so...I fell apart at grandma's visitation last time...so I am guessing that will probably happen again tomorrow.  Anyway...here is what I am "planning" on saying...again it's not eloquent and I am not sure it's editted to perfection (or ever will be)...and if I went through 28 years of all the memories I had with him we'd be there all day...so...yeah...here it is...

God truly blessed me with my grandfather. I am so thankful for the time we had and the blessing of knowing and loving him for 28 years. I was SO thrilled that he was able to meet his great-granddaughters and more than that, play with them, know them and be a part of their lives for almost 2 years.


As I look back there are so many things I am thankful for and so many memories imprinted in my mind and heart forever. As a young child I would spend time in the summers at my grandparent's house. I adored the times riding in grandpa's truck and taking trips with him to his farm. I loved walking beside him as he fed the horses and listening to the stories behind his horses and their names. I loved the hours we spent out on the lake fishing. For most kids I am sure this would be boring, but not with grandpa...sitting out there on the lake, wishing and hoping for that big walleye to hit your line was so exciting and such a joy. I loved when kicked back relaxing in his recliner, I would ask him if he was napping, and his reply with a grin would always be, "I'm just resting my eyes". Funny how that statement was usually followed shortly after by snoring. I remember with such fondness watching gramps at 90 years old, after just returning from goose hunting, getting down on the floor with his great granddaughters to play with them. I adored how much he loved and doted on them and how the simplest acts like a hug or the words, "hi papa" from either of the girls lit up his face and made his day.

My grandpa was a great man...he was strong, stubborn, passionate but still gentle, kind and loving. He had a great sense of humor. Although sometimes it was the same joke over and over, it always made me smile. I must have heard, "I had a wooden whistle and it wouldn't whistle....so I got a tin whistle, now I tin whistle" a billion times, it never got old and is etched with love in my heart forever. I loved more than anything grandpa's stories, after all he had 92 years worth of living and experiences to share. In my life, I believe I only heard the same story maybe once or twice...it was always something new. And OH the stories...such a life...and recounted with SO much detail. It continually amazed and intrigued me how well he remembered the minute details...things that most people would have long since forgotten, he remembered and shared as though it were yesterday. I cherish those moments, the times despite the busyness of life I could sit and drink in the stories of grandpa's youth...his most recent hunting adventure, how he met grandma, stories from the war...stories of a life well lived. I loved my grandpa so much and I am so thankful that because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us, and Gramps' acceptance of Christ's gift of salvation through faith alone, that I will see my grandpa again in heaven someday.

I am thankful for the blessing he was in my life, for the time we were given, the talks we had, the many ways he touched my life, and the memories I will hold onto forever. I love you gramps, you will truly be missed.