I was at work when I got the phone call about Grandpa. He was gone. Not quite how I envisioned my day going. The tears came, and went and came again. Throughout the day, the tears were there, close the surface sometimes spilling over, sometimes being kept down because "now is not the time". Memories came flooding in of times spent with Grandpa. Of times back on the old farm when us grandkids would play upstairs and get yelled at because we were shaking the lights downstairs. Memories of Valerie, Tonya, Heather, and I all playing together.. Heather and I sliding down the bathtub.. hiding behind the bed.. the chalkboard at the bottom of the steps and the awesome yellow stepstool.. So many things.. And it wouldnt have happened without Grandpa. One of my all time favorite memories is actually multiple memories all rolled into one.

One of my favorite things to do with him was to grab a book and crawl into his lap and say Read to me Grandpa. So he would. We would sit there and read for a long time. Even after I knew how to read, I still crawled onto his lap to listen to him. Only these times, he got caught for skipping sentences and pages. :) After awhile that stopped. But a few years ago at Christmas, we did things from times past. Someone remembered about grandpa and I.. So out to the middle of the circle we went, with the young grandkids sitting on the floor, and grandpa and I on chairs.. and he read to us.  Something I'll cherish forever.. But you know... He read to us every year. Every year at Christmas before we opened presents, he read the story of why we celebrate Christmas, the story of what makes us the amazingly strange and wonderful family that we are. This is the story that was at center of Grandpa's heart as well as in Grandmas. And that story has been passed on to every single one of his children and their children..and now even onto their children.

Being at the funeral home, I thought would be way too hard, but surprisingly, for me, it wasnt. I was surrounded by my family and my friends. I was surrounded by people who loved Grandpa the way I did. People who appreciated the same things about him that I did. SO many people that I had no clue who they were, but yet somehow in someway, they were impacted by Grandpa. What a legacy to have. People have told me that they couldnt think of one bad thing about him.. which just blows me away (not because I can think of anything- because I cant) because of how much Jesus was shining through him into everyone else.. There was no doubt that he was called Home to the One who was so ingrained into his every moment. It was comforting to me to see so many people there.. even if it meant that we had to be at the funeral home till 11:30 at night. It was all because of the amazing influence he had on people. Makes me wonder what kind of influence I have on people..

It definitely wasn’t the way we expected to spend the Christmas season, but it happened nonetheless. Christmas was definitely different, but yet at the same time it was good. We were surrounded by family and friends through the whole time. And isn’t that what Christmas is about? Being with those who matter most to you. Whether it was people who were physically there, or those who kept us in your thoughts and prayers. All of it mattered and still does matter. Grandpa is gone, but yet he’s still alive in our hearts, and like someone told me at the funeral, his legacy still lives in each one of us. So I just wanted to say thank you for the thoughts and prayers. You’ll never know how much they truly mean to me.

"You don't have to be fancy to be striking. Do it simply. Do it well.
Do it with love and adoration.
That makes it an offering.

One ceases to recognize the significance of mountain peaks if they are not viewed occasionally from the deepest valleys.- Dr. Al Lorin

In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved. No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away—and a touch of wonder remains.

There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.

Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-4).

Somewhere there is someone who dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worth while, so when you are lonely, remember it's true, somebody, somewhere, is thinking of you. - D'Anne Bucy

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

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Some pictures I took yesterday... Enjoy them. :)