Memories.....

Another post about my Gramps. =) He makes me smile, still. He loved us kids & our families so much. He loved my gramma & their kids so much. He loved his CAT maintainer. He loved his church. Most of all, he loves GOD. Such a good man. Such an amazing person. So loved and adored. So respected. I've always respected my Grandpa. He's lived right, he's taught right. He's made mistkakes & made them right. He put God & his family first. He took care of what needed done. He was so proud of his garden! Some more memories.....

• I remember farm life with him. Planting potatoes, digging corn in the grain bins, feeding animals, watching baby pigs be born, watching them milk cows, riding in the tractor & combine, laying irrigation pipe & drinking the cold, clear water, getting in the henhouse to get eggs, even though i was kinda freaked out by those chickens! having hog roasts, hiding in the cellar during tornadoes.


• I remember family life. Always cake & ice cream time for birthdays, Christmas day night at their house, having soup. Playing UNO until all hours of the night, Gramps getting so silly when we were all getting so tired. His wooden toy that was called the "Huey Stick"...a game only Gramps could play & make work!


• I remember how he used to always grin. Happy all the time. Shook his finger--the crooked one!! Told jokes & stories, showed us ration tickets from the service, showed us old pictures and stories about my dad & the family. I remember him looking so handsome & being so proud at my wedding.


• I remember being so proud to have my kids know my Grandparents. How special it was to have them around when my babies were born. How he got to know them, and hold them, and play with them. Gramps & Ryan bonded a bit over the CAT machines. He gave Ryan an official CAT hardhat from the company; my boys play in it all the time.


• I remember being thrilled each time I got a new piece of furnishing from my Grampas hands. All of my treasured shelves and hope chests and toys and handmade love; he usually built them & Gramma stained/painted them.

Tonight was hard. Very emotional. We went up to see Gramma and my Mom & Dad. It was beyond good to see them; at the same time it was very bittersweet because we miss Grampa so much. To go to their house and not see him sittin in his chair, grinnin when we came in; or comin around the corner with his coffee; or putterin down the hallway; or showin us his latest! Gramma gave me a beautiful silk flower arrangement from the memorial, I will treasure it and always remember my Gramps when I look at it. She also gave us some little things he had picked out for our Christmas stockings, like sleep masks for all of us girls--each one picked for the specific girl. My thoughtful Gramps. I'm so glad that he's in heaven, with Jesus & in perfect health and with no worries; I just miss him so.