A day that I thought was going to be a perfect day came to an abrupt halt when I got a text message saying my Grandaddy had passed away. My in-laws were visiting and were watching the kids so that Hubby and I could go to a movie. I'd been looking forward to getting to see the new Harry Potter movie and eating some Junior Mints (a necessity at the movies) all week. Of course I turned off my phone when the movie started and apparently a few minutes later my Dad had tried calling me. When he couldn't get ahold of either myself or Hubby he send me a text message saying that my Grandaddy had succumbed to Parkinson's disease that morning. I got the message in the middle of the movie. So I spent the rest of the movie remembering my Grandaddy. When I got home I cried.
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| Grandaddy |
Most of my memories of my Grandaddy are from the year we lived in Oklahoma when I was 6. My grandparents lived about 10 minutes away and we used to see them a lot. He was a truck driver and I remember that one time he took my brother and me with him on a short haul and he stopped at a gas station and bought us both Nestle Crunch bars. My Grandaddy had a favorite old chair that he would always sit in and his favorite TV show was "Alf." I remember him watching that show and laughing at that weird furry alien. It's funny the things we remember from when we were young...
I drove up to Oklahoma with all three kids for his funeral. Hubby couldn't come with me because he'd just taken leave and was getting ready to take a month off to help with the upcoming move. I made the girls matching dresses and Crazy a tie for the funeral. I don't care what people say, you wear black, navy blue or at least a dark brown to a funeral. Remember that when I die, you will need to wear black to my funeral out of respect. I packed up the kids and left at 3am to make the 15 hour drive. I have to say the kids did incredible! Even Hiccup was great. We made it to my aunt's house in time for dinner. Since we had such a long drive I decided to arrive a few days before the funeral so that the kids could relax and have some fun before getting back in their carseats for the return trip. We had the chance to hang out with my cousin and her baby who is 6 weeks older than Hiccup which was nice. The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake each evening.
Grandaddy's graveside service was in the morning and each of his grandkids had been assigned either a Bible passage or poem to read. I'm surprised I was able to make it through mine without crying. The service was very nice and I'm sure that my Grandaddy would have told us that we were making too much of a fuss over him but funerals are really for the living after all.
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| Grandaddy's family |
After the service ended the entire family went to my aunt's house for lunch. Once lunch was over my cousin offered to take groups out on the boat and the rest of us headed down to the lake to swim or ride on the jet skis. I gave Crazy and my 6 year old cousin a ride on one of the jet skis and then offered to pull them on the inner tube. Afterward we just enjoyed floating in the lake until it got dark. It was nice to spend time with all of my family, especially the ones I rarely get to see. I just wish it had been for a happier occasion than for my Grandaddy's funeral.
