I Miss Him Already

My kids will get sick of hearing it long before I'm sick of telling them: Do you know how lucky you are?!? You met all EIGHT of your great grandparents! Not only that, they are all people really worth knowing. And they'll roll their eyes and tell me, "We know, Mom. You've told us eleventy bazillion times already!"

But they'll remember.

Grandpa, I love you. And I send my kids off to bed with the high sign every night. And if I can ever keep it straight, I'll tell them how to know if a distant cousin is a second cousin or a first cousin once removed. And I'll teach them all the words about Little Willie and also why you should never marry a farmer's wife. And we'll all laugh about the first time their Daddy visited your house and every time we got ready to go somewhere you would announce, "Maitland is ready!" and at the end of the visit their Daddy asked me, "Who is Maitland?" And every time we see a train go by, I'll remind them to be thankful they are not hobos. And some Sundays we'll just go for a drive. And I'll tell Julia all about how when I called to tell her great grandfather that she was a girl, you told me, "I'm so glad. There's just something about little girls." And I could hear the smile in your voice. And I'll be sure Dax knows that every time I was introduced to someone as Buck Steele's granddaughter, I would hear all about what a great man Mr. Steele was and how much he was liked. And they will be so proud to say you were their great-grandfather. And I'll make sure they eat lots of ice cream.

My grandfather passed away this morning around 7 am. We miss him so much, but are so thankful that he is in heaven and no longer in pain. Now he gets to tell his mom and dad all about his children and grandchildren and the great-grandbabies he was so proud of.