Skip to main content

saying goodbye....

this weekend we'll are saying good-bye to my grandpa. grandpa was 94 years old - can you imagine?
me and my grandpa

grandpa was an amazing man that led his family well! i always remember him telling jokes or laughing, but we also couldn't get away with much when grandpa was around. he loved peanuts, so much so that every christmas we would all buy him peanuts. while it sounds superficial, it is such a real memory and to this day, when i eat peanuts i always think of him.

i was the youngest grandchild, #13 actually, so when i went to visit it was just me. when i was born they had just sold the farm and moved to town. it was a small town and he knew everyone. from the time i could walk, he would walk with me up town to get pizza, take me to the rainbow restaurant, or to the dime store to pick out a treasure of some kind. it was a long walk, but he would always be so patient.

what i really remember is that grandpa loved us all. he always encouraged us and always accepted anyone we brought through his doors.

with the great grandkids 4 years ago
when grandpa and grandma moved into a senior citizen complex he was the only man in their building. he would always complain about it - but i think he secretly liked it! he loved to tell us stories of all the ladies when we would come for a visit and he sure did know a lot about those ladies.


us grandkids

grandpa never missed an event in our lives. he came for birthday's, graduations, games, weddings, and random sunday afternoon visits. i vividly remember them showing up at our house when we'd been married a few years. they stood there with a lamp in hand - the matching lamp had gone to my sister.
my kiddos with them several years ago
94 years! he'd been a politician - well, he claims he wasn't so well liked because he would do what was right - not popular. that was something i think he loved talking about with hubby:) but mostly he was husband, father, farmer, grandpa, great-grandpa, and friend.
i took my kids for one last visit in june. while grandpa barely talked or moved, he knew us and i know he loved our visit. it broke my heart to see him unable to simply talk, i think it broke his too. i'm thankful for his impact in my life. for his ever-present kindness, love and encouragement.
grandpa will be missed. he lived well and he loved well and he leaves behind a legacy.



Comments

Natalie said…
great tribute to a deserving grandfather.
August 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Caviar Dreams said…
God bless you and your family.You knew you were loved and that shows in your words.We all have loved ones that have made our lives better and made us the people we are today.Remember to pass it on in your children because that is all you really can do to remember what is in your heart is their forever.
August 17, 2010 at 10:12 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

me, on politics

i despise politics. i never liked it, but i married a man fascinated with it. a man who wanted to be part of it all...and was, briefly. boy were our eyes opened... anyways...it seems like this election has several hot button topics. one of which is universal healthcare. my cousin started a blog called politics for mom and there have been several heated debates going on. i was reading several comments on healthcare. and frankly i was bothered! now, i don't know that a strict universal healthcare is the answer, but i do know that we have now doesn't work for the average person. here is our story.... hubby worked in a small business - 3 employees at the most that i can remember. we paid 1/2 our insurance..until it came to the point where our half each month was twice what we would pay if we were on our own. but for the owner it saved him money. so he agreed to cover ours in full. we were very grateful. i also know at times, that because of the healthcare cost, it was a struggle f...
9 comments
Read more

from the kitchen...

chicken bruschetta bake if you know me, you know my great distaste of tomatoes. i usually pick the tomato chunks out of my sgetti sauce. yes i just called it sgetti!! i eat all the chunks of my salsa, except the tomatoes. but over the past few years i've gotten a bit brave and will eat small pieces of tomatoes in fresh salsa and in this dish as well. i hadn't fixed this in probably over a year. but a few weeks ago i pulled out my recipe file to find some old favorites. i found this and realized i had everything in the pantry. that's a deal!!!!! i did have to switch out the diced tomatoes because my can was crushed instead. i prefer the diced but this worked just as well. the kids loved the chicken, but not so much the topping. this was great as leftovers, too. i ate it for lunch the following two days. 1 can. (12.5oz) diced tomatoes, undrained 1 pkg. stove top stuffing mix for chicken (i use aldi brand) 1/2 cup water 2 cloves garlic, minced 1.5 pounds skinless...
4 comments
Read more

life with izzie b

so i'm out of town right now and this time with my friend izzie b (names have been changed to protect the people we know). we are actually at a conference that is rocking my world, but we are two crazy girls alone in a big city. anyways.....she is a weird person. she likes car rides and she likes to watch the sunrise while riding in the car so we started our trip at 5:30 AM!!! 5:30 AM friends...ugh. but we had a non-eventful trip and honestly it wasn't so bad. i'm weird so i had packed us ham and cheese sandwichs. we stopped several times to get out and walk. we stopped for gas somewhere a bit redneck and they sold mostly fireworks. lots and lots of fireworks. that place also had some kind of super duper blue light hand dryer. it was honestly a bit freaky. then we checked in and found we had a smoking room. it was quite smoky and so we asked for a change. no luck, but the nice lady offered to bring up an odor remover machine while we were at the conference. um....
4 comments
Read more