Goodbye (for a while) to Grandpa

Tonight I received the news that my grandfather had passed away. I'm in Romania tonight so my thoughts have been on the many, many wonderful memories that my grandfather gave me. Just the fact that I am here in Romania is to his credit because ever since I can remember, my grandfather has inspired me to do right and to follow the Lord.

I knew before we ever came over here that there was the possibility that he would pass away and we would not be able to attend his funeral. Although I knew this, we knew that we were doing what God wanted us to do, and we knew that we were doing what grandpa would want us to do. Tonight in heaven, I think that grandpa knows where we are and he is glad. The fact that we cannot attend the funeral means nothing to him now because he sees the bigger picture—while funerals are a way for us to express our human grief, a funeral is just an unnecessary formality for one who is already in heaven! This Thursday, I will be very sorry that I had to miss such a special event, but I know that seeing him in heaven will be a much more joyful occasion and just a little more reason to look forward to getting there.

When I think about my grandfather, there are lots of memories that come to mind because he always invested so much time with his grandchildren. He and grandma always made it a high priority to be at any special event in our lives, and many years of photographs show them always there for us. My grandfather loved me a lot, and I always knew it. Because he was a tall man, his hugs were always lopsided, but they were always there. Whenever we arrived at his house, he was already coming to meet us part way and give us one of his "behr hugs" and welcome us to the Bear's den. For those who knew him very long, you will know that his mother was a "brown bear."

Grandpa sent us birthday checks in the mail, gave us educational games at Christmas, sent us big blocks of cheese in the mail, took us on hikes through the woods, took us fishing, played "skin the cat" and made a loud train noise with his mouth. He drove excrutiatingly slowly so that he never broke the speed limit, and always kept his gas tank at half a tank. Before we left his house he would casually walk around the car to inspect the tires and think of some tactful way to tell us if they needed attention. In the days when Brach's pick a mix candy was popular, grandpa would always show up at our house with a bag of sweets. I still can't pass Brach's candy without bringing back memories.

Grandpa loved ice cream and passed that love on to me. Grandpa owned a big green recliner and some of my earliest memories are of being with him at that chair. Grandpa's house was never scarey because something about him sleeping down the hall made everything calm and cozy.

Grandpa always said something good about the worst situations. My first year of marriage, we began the tradition of inviting grandpa and grandma to our home for Thanksgiving. We kept that tradition for years until they moved away. That first year, I was so excited to have them come that I cooked enough food for an army and left out off the seasonings for the stuffing. They never said a word about how terrible that stuffing tasted, and I didn't even discover it wasn't good until later. Grandpa's "get along" spirit was perhaps best shown by turning off his hearing aid at the church when either the music got too loud for him or else he didn't like the music—I never figured out which one it was! Later, when he came to our house and our children asked him to go to the Thanksgiving parade, he went along although I knew that at his age, it wasn't really something that he would normally do. When the children had collected too much candy to handle, he promptly took off his baseball cap and allowed them to fill it.

Grandpa was generous with his grandchildren. Not only did he send me a yearly birthday check, but if he knew I needed something, he just got it for me. When I went away to college, he knew I needed a typewriter, so he just went in the store with me and got it for me.

Grandpa was a precise person. His hair was always neat (by the way, he never colored it). Grandpa always dressed neatly. Anyone remember his rainbow shirt? Grandpa always thought ahead to get his hat, jacket, bug spray, and umbrella before heading out and he always reminded me to do so. It took over thirty years for me to catch on and think about these things ahead of time, but now I am finally grown up enough to remember to grab a jacket. Thanks for teaching me that, grandpa! Grandpa always neatly opened his mail with a letter opener and always sat in his recliner to do it.

We always looked forward to grandpa and grandma coming to visit us. It was a strict rule at our house to have evening devotions no matter what so my dad would always read a passage of Scripture and then pray. However, when grandpa came, things changed! Grandpa never knew it, but after reading the Bible, my dad would ask for "comments" and grandpa always had one!

Grandpa always respected grandma. I never once saw him disrespect her and we always knew that he believed marriage was very sacred. I remember sitting in the living room of their house and grandma got out her marriage license and showed it to me.

Rick and I spent much of our time dating in grandpa and grandma's house. They always welcomed us even though in those days, we had more interest in spending time as a couple than as a foursome. We would go to their place for a weekend away from college, and then spend the days exploring a park or other tourist site, and then get back to grandpa's at bedtime.

Grandpa was the only grandfather that Rick ever knew and they treated him just as a natural born grandchild. They were always there for a hug and handshake for him and regularly told us that they were proud of us. It meant a lot to Rick to be treated so lovingly as he had always missed having grandparents. It meant so much to me to hear them say that they were proud of my choice for a husband and that they appreciated my children and enjoyed having them around.

I remember being with grandpa for the days following his open heart surgery. Although he was in a lot of pain, I never remember hearing him complain or have a bad attitude.

My grandfather left priceless memories with me of unequivocal love. He motivated me to do right, and I always knew that if I did wrong, he would be disappointed, and that helped me to choose the right way. They were so proud of me at so many special occasions, and they were never afraid to say so. Thank you, grandpa, for giving me so many wonderful memories. I will always be grateful to God for giving you to me. I will look forward to seeing you in heaven