Grandpa

 Last Friday, we laid my sweet grandpa to rest. 

This is my absolute favorite picture of Ella and my grandpa. 

I have so many great memories of him. As a child I was actually not that close to him. I was closer to my grandma. Once she passed away my relationship with him changed. I definitely made more of an effort to spend time with him. He was my last living grandparent. 

We met up for lunch quite a bit at either Cracker Barrel or Pizza Hut. When Adam and I lived in our apartment at Copper Creek my grandpa would wait in the movie theatre parking lot for me to get home from work. I remember I would pull in and see him sitting in his black truck waiting so he could come in and visit. 

He was always around to help me out when I needed it. In high school I would call him and ask him for gas money every now and then. I had money, but I didn't want to spend it on gas:) He always said yes. He would give me a 20 dollar bill. It only took $12 to fill up my tank, and I would pocket the rest. He also bought me my first couch and love seat when Adam and I moved in together. When Adam and I moved into our house and bought the wrong lawnmower (we discovered this after we cut grass) he offered to take it home and clean it up so we could take it back. 

My grandpa was a very simple person. He didn't need material things to make him happy. When I think of him I can see him in blue jeans, a white t-shirt, overalls, and a baseball hat. That was his uniform, and he rarely wore anything else unless it was a special occasion. Speaking of occasions, he was at my high school and college graduations. He was at my wedding, even though he had his gull bladder removed the week before. He was also there the day Ella was born. I am glad he made it to all the big events in my life.

My best memory of him is just sitting at the dinner table with him. He told stories and made me laugh so hard that I would have tears in my eyes. My grandpa and I shared the same love of food. He would always tell my mom her food was so good "it makes me want to smack my mammy." He will definitely be missed at the dinner table, but I'm thankful we got to share so many great dinners with him.

I hope that Ella has at least one memory of him when she gets older. That was probably the saddest part of this whole thing for me. I just hope she can remember him. He loved her so much. He always called her his "punkin". 

Last Wednesday he passed away. I knew what my brother was going to say as soon as I saw his name on my phone. It was the call I had been dreading for a long time.  I was sad, but yet I was happy for my grandpa. His quality of life went down quickly the past few months so I knew he was definitely in a better place. I will miss my grandpa so much, but I am so thankful for the memories I have of him. 

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."