Grandpa and E, August 2008
We just found out that N's grandpa passed away last night.
He was a wonderful man. Until his health went downhill we would see him once or twice a year when he stayed with us to attend local genealogy conferences. We loved having him around.
My own grandfathers died before I was born so he was the only grandpa I really knew and I loved spending time with him. He was a Grandpa straight out of central casting--funny and caring but with an ornery streak and the tendency to say slightly scandalous things and the self-awareness to enjoy saying them. Every once in a great while he would drop an outdated racial epithet in a conversation but I think he mostly did it to get a rise out of us and so we would chide him, "Grandpa, you can't say that anymore!"
Being in his company was like being plunged into an ocean of Grandpa-y-ness. It was awesome.
He was always unfailingly kind to me and went out of his way to make me feel welcome as a member of the family. I will miss his humor, his wit, his kindness, and the example he set as a man devoted to his family and the Lord. We will miss him but I know that he's with his wife and other loved ones now. I believe that families can be forever and that I'll see him again.
Grandpa, we love you.
Labels: family