Goodbye

My Grandfather passed away on Sunday. As sad as it is it is also a good thing. His body was failing and he was ready.

He was a most excellent man. A prominent fixture in the lives of my sister and I growing up, dinners and vacations or trips were plentiful. He had this difficult to describe manor which radiated out as a quirky sense of unintentional humor that permeates my family.

He knew how to love. During his own life he lost 2 wives and 1 daughter, but that didn’t stop him from continuing on with his 3rd wife, 3 sons, 9 grandchildren, and most recently 1 great-grand daughter. And I would be willing to bet that each of us plus the extended family around us knew of his love. His memory wasn’t the best but he knew what was going on with his family. Even when the actions of us younger folk didn’t make sense or follow the paths he might prefer, he would just shake his head and keep on loving us. He would pour over pictures be they old memories or new snapshots of what we are doing. He was proud of me and he would tell me when I least expected it too involved with activities that were routine in my mind. But he would be there beaming. And it felt so good.

Goodbye Grandpa.