Sunday, the 11th of July was my grandpa Bob's birthday, he would have been 83.I don't think a girl could have asked for a better grandpa. He was the funniest, sweetest, most caring man in this whole world.
My mom was an only child so my brother and I were my grandparents only grandchildren. We were their whole world and they always made us feel that way. I cannot remember a time that they did not make us feel like we were the only two people in the world to them.
There are so many memories of my grandpa that i cherish so close to my heart, they are memories that will never leave me. I would like to share my most favorite ones, just to give you a glimpse of this wonderful man.
Most of the memories that I have start when i was really young. My grandma and grandpa lived about 40 minutes from us but every single week without fail they would come and visit us. The best is when they would come over on a Friday and we would get to go home with them and spend the night. We would wait with anticipation for each visit especially when they were going to take us home with them. On the ride back to their house we would sing songs all the way. The ones i remember the most are "shine on, shine on harvest moon", and I have a F.O.R.D. ford, and, "You are my Sunshine". I still know each word to every single one of these songs.
Holidays are a big memory of mine with my grandpa. Once we got a little older they started spending Christmas eve night with us. This was such a wonderful night. We would have Christmas with them Christmas eve night, get up on Christmas morning, have a huge breakfast and then open gifts. Christmas eve night my grandparents never slept together or alone. My brother and I either slept in the room with them, in the bed with them, or they slept in separate rooms with one of us. That is love!
He loved animals!!! I think that is where i get my extreme love for them is from him. He loved our dogs and they loved him even more, especially Pongo, our sweet dalmatian. They would drive in the driveway and Pongo would greet him at his driver side door, and he would love all over him. Pongo even decided to be his sleeping partner one Christmas eve night, my grandpa woke up to a very wet slobbery kiss from Pong, but he just laughed and kissed him right back.
Thank you grandpa for this wonderful trait.
He made the best banana pudding EVER!!!!! I did not like banana anything until he made it for me. From that moment on i was hooked!!!! I made some banana pudding this past Sunday.
He had the best Christmas hat! They would come over on Christmas eve and he would be wearing this ridiculous fishing hat with all this Christmas decor all over it and it played music. He would have the hat going off and my sweet grandma would have her musical Christmas socks going when they would walk in the door. My grandma still has that hat and in fact wore it this past Christmas. I cannot look at that hat or think of that hat and not cry....
Whenever we would sit down to eat dinner, without fail my grandpa would have to visit the restroom. And his visits were long. My mom began to tell people we were eating about 10-15 minutes before we actually ate, just so we would not all be sitting there waiting on him.
He was always proud of me. No matter what i did, he was always there and beaming with pride. When i was in high school and I started singing he was always encouraging me to keep at it. He loved to hear me sing, and I loved to sing for him. I went to sing at my grandparents church for his birthday and the love and pride that I felt from him is something that I will never forget. He never put me down about anything, he loved me for me. If I had an event, singing, cheerleading, school, church or anything my brother and i were involved in you can bet that my grandma and him were there cheering us on. I am sure he is still cheering me on.
He loved and had a wonderful relationship with my grandma. My grandparents marriage is a marriage to look up too. They put God in the center of their marriage and their home and you cannot ask for anything but that. When he got sick, the bond between them was so evident. She took care of him and up until the end she was with him. I cannot imagine loosing your spouse of that many years, your life partner, best friend, your soul mate. I only hope that God blesses my marriage like he blessed my grandparents.
He loved the Lord. He was a faithful man. He didn't only talk it, he walked it! He was such an example of a Godly man. I am so apprecitative of his faith, he passed it onto my mom and her and my dad passed it onto us. He loved Jesus and he loved to tell people how much. I can only imagine the feeling that he had when he got to see Jesus face to face. What a wonderful thought!
Toward the end of his life he asked me to record a CD of songs that he wanted played at his funeral. I put it off because it was too hard for me to think about. I did put one together and I took it over to his house and I let him listen to it. He cried through the whole thing. He was so proud of it, he had everyone that came to the house listen to it. The next time i heard it was at his funeral. I thought it was going to almost unbearable but it was not at all because when the songs started to play the first thought in my head was his face when he heard it for the first time. I was proud of it and i know that he was too, it was something that we shared.
At the very end of his life, he was unable to speak but he could hear. I told my husband that I knew that the time was getting near and that I wanted to go see him one last time. I went into the room and Jason and my grandmother stepped out. I scooted close to him and began to speak with him. I told him that I loved him so very much, that it was ok to go home, that I could not have asked for a better grandpa and that I was so grateful that God gave him to me. I stroked his face, and kissed him. I then began to sing to him. I got close to his ear and sang "Amazing Grace" and " You are my Sunshine". I know that he heard me. I gave him one last kiss and prayed with him and I told him, that this was NOT goodbye, it is, until I see you again.
These memories are the freshest.
They are not sad memories at all, they are good memories. I got to say goodbye to him and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will see him again. I miss him so much. I miss him everyday. I miss his laugh, his jokes, his singing, him playing the piano,his stories., his presence I miss his love. I have been very fortunate to have both sets of my grandparents alive until my 30s, not a lot of people can say that. I just hate losing them.
Another birthday has come and gone. We will always remember the memories that we have of him, he is not a person you forget.
I thank God every day that I got to have him in life as long as I did.
I think i will go have some banana pudding now.
Happy Birthday Grandpa, I love you.
~Aundrea
1 comment:
Andi,
That was beautiful! You were so blessed to have both grandpa's around! That's one thing I have no memories of. I know I was only 3 or 4 when my Mom's Dad passed, and I don't even know when my Dad's Dad passed. Those are wonderful memories, and I'm sure he's very proud of you from Heaven! And I'm proud of you myself for your great weight loss! That's fantastic! Keep it up Sweetie!!
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