I have talked about a few of my loved ones that have passed on before, my Aunt, and my Grandmother. So today I am going to talk about my Grandpas that have passed on.
First my Mom's Dad, he died two weeks after Randy and I were wed. I was sick and went to see him shortly before he passed. He was asleep and didn't wake up that day. You could sense the end was near. I got home that night after seeing him and was vomiting and running a fever, he passed away the next day, and I went to the hospital the day after with appendicitis. It was a very surreal week. I didn't really deal with my emotions, maybe it was the morphine in me, but nothing seemed real. When I got out of the hospital I was able to go get showered and go straight to his funeral.
Grandpa had been sick for a while, and had dementia so it was time for him to go. None of us could wish him to live longer. I still miss him though. My Grandpa was a great man. He served in World War II and received a Purple Heart. He married my Grandma, 13 years younger than him, and they had two girls just 11 months apart, my Mom being the youngest. Grandpa was from Arkansas, and he only had a sixth grade education, but he worked hard. He was a mechanic, and a farmer.
When I was a kid he loved to tell war stories, and you would see his eyes light up as he would tell you about them. He loved talking about driving the tanks into Germany. Grandpa always wore these green coveralls and a matching hat even in the horrible heat, he was a red head and fair and didn't want to get a sunburn.
One of my best memories is when my Grandpa was 80 he finally decided to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a great blessing for all of us to be there. My cousin was baptized with him, and it was a very memorable day. He had heard about the Church for over 40 years before he finally decided to join. It was a joyous day for all of us. Shortly after baptism dementia set in and progressed quite rapidly. So after his death my brother did his work, and my Grandma and him are now sealed and they are sealed to their children putting one more link into our eternal chain.
My Grandpa love McDonalds, it was one of his absolute favorite places to go. A Quarter Pounder with cheese and an ice cream cone and he was set. It took him a long time to eat it, but it was heaven for him.
It has almost been seven years, I still miss him. I miss his smell, the twinkle in his eye, and the excitement he would get when I would play the piano. My Grandpa is pretty darn special, he was not the most talkative man, I guess being in a house with three women might do that to you, but I knew he loved me, and he is where my first name comes from.. we have a special bond.
Now my Dad's father, he passed away when I was 3 months pregnant with my little boy. He was ready, and he missed my Grandmother greatly. I am grateful that for all of my grandparents I have been able to go and visit them and say good-bye. Grandpa died on June 23, 2001 at 92 years old. He was one of the funniest old men I know. Pretty hilarious most of the time.
Grandpa was bald, he loved all of my hair and from the time I was little wanted to glue it on his head. Or so he would tell me. One time I was visiting him and he wanted to fix my hair, I let him. Then I cried. Thankfully I had my older brother there to fix it for me. He blew my hair dry, and made it HUGE, now I am talking like early 80's massive hair here, it was awful, but he had so much fun doing it. He loved my hair, and always told me I was going to be Miss America.. that is until I got taller than him. Then I was just big.. lol..
Grandpa loved ice cream too, he used to love to make ice cream cones for us. I love ice cream so I was always excited. Then one day I caught Grandpa dishing me up my cone, and he would scoop the ice cream and then lick the spoon, scoop the ice cream, lick the spoon. Ummm.. not exactly appetizing, but it was Grandpa so we just moved forward and tried to ignore it.
Grandpa was an exceptional Gardner, he always had tons of beautiful flowers. The spring before he passed away he decided to round up his front yard to kill all of the grass, he wanted more flowers. He called my Dad and told him to come fix the yard, till it and plant the glads in it. So reluctantly he did it. My Grandpa didn't live to see all of the flowers in bloom, but the 1000 glad did come up and did bloom that summer. Grandpa's flowers went to Church every Sunday, he would have been so proud! Everyone knew how much he loved his flowers!
Grandpa was a great example of a righteous priesthood holder and a great man. He raised his children strong in the Gospel, and was a hard worker. He farmed, and worked at a mill. He is still missed. I miss the quirky sense of humor, from trying to feed my dog food when I was 5 and telling me it was candy, to the stepping on the giant stink bugs.
This summer it is five years since he passed. I miss him. I remember going to visit him and telling him I was pregnant. When we were leaving the last thing he said to us was Randy, I am proud of you for finally showing your manhood. Yes my 92 year old Grandpa said that. Made me laugh. It is great to have memories, and I hope he knows how much I love him!
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