Death

My grandpa died today. The funeral is on Friday. I'll be driving down to Alabama on Wednesday to join family. My grandpa meant a lot to me. I know that I will see my grandpa in heaven but that doesn't remove the pain of this loss.

Here is part of what one of my cousin's wrote not long before he died. I've selected the sections that say exactly what I've been thinking/feeling.

My grandparents have always been a big part of my life. I heard from my mom for years about her growing up and moving, traveling as her dad went to one job to another with the government. I know how he was with his children as he raised four great ladies that went to become great in their own ways such as principals in schools, lab managers to name a few and have raised their own great children. But before them I don’t know much about but I know about him now. I have watched him throughout the last twenty years as he made wood creations with his hands that have decorated my family’s homes and yards, and I have watched him with my cousins and me teaching, guiding and loving us as we grew under his guidance.

I love my grandpa very much and I don’t know if I've really told him how much I appreciate him...there is so much that I will always remember with him...Feeding the ducks at the pond. Listening to his stories of his life. I am so grateful to have gotten to know him, to have him as my grandpa. I love him with all my heart and soul and will never forget him. I would love for him to be around when I graduate from college, walk down the aisle, and even when my first child is born but I know that he won't be. And even if he won’t I know that he will be in my thoughts at each of these points of my life and for many more. And I want him to walk through the gates of heaven knowing that he lived a full and fruitful life where his work in life was appreciated, admired, respected and most certainly knowing that he was loved as one of the greatest grandpas to walk to the earth.