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| This picture was taken in 2004 at his 90th Birthday party. |
Grandpa was 97. He has been slowing down for the past couple of years, but up until then, he was very active. In his 80s, he would walk about 5 miles a day! People thought he was in his 60s! His age finally caught up with him. It was a recent bout of pneumonia that caused him to take a turn for the worse. But even then, he was only bed ridden for about 2 and a half days. I was able to visit him last night and say goodbye. Even then, I didn't think he would go so quickly. But it truly was a blessing. He didn't suffer long, and he isn't suffering at all anymore!
It's been a hard day. I got there about 20 minutes after he passed and spent most of the rest of the day there. By the end of the week, all of my cousins will be here. We'll all be here for the funeral, except for 2 of my cousins' spouses and 3 of the great-grandkids. The funeral is on Saturday. We will be singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You", which we sang for him on his 97th birthday last July. This will probably be the hardest thing we'll ever have to sing....but we know that Grandpa will love it. He always loved everything we sang.
Grandpa was so incredibly supportive of us. We knew we could always call him if we needed anything. He and Grandma would always come to our concerts, plays, games, awards ceremonies...pretty much anything! It's been such a blessing to have my wonderful grandparents living so close to us.
It's going to be so weird not having Grandpa here. He'll be there in spirit. We know where he is and that we'll be with him again. Right now he's probably planning a fun trip with Uncle Stanley and Aunt Ida!
I miss him already and I will miss him always! I love you, Grandpa!
