Dear Mom,
Today I write this with a very heavy heart. On Monday morning your dad took a terrible fall in their garage. He hit is head so viciously hard on the cement floor causing a cracked skull and internal bleeding on his brain that was fatal. Over the next 24 hours we waited and hoped for an improvement in his responses and for the bleeding to stop. Around 12:30 p.m. the doctor delivered the tragic news that there was no improvement and grandma would have to make the decision to remove the ventilator and let grandpa go into the hands of our Almighty Father! Oh Mom, standing beside his bed, watching his heart take it's last slow beat and knowing that grandpa will no longer be at his front door to greet us with hugs and kisses is so difficult to swallow. I know that heaven is a much more wonderful place than this world and he is resting peacefully.
We are going to miss him so much. Grandma is really going to miss him, but she's being really strong right now. Livi and I were talking Tuesday night about some memories of her great-grandpa. She said she loved going to the pool and swimming with great-grandpa. He liked to play basketball in the pool and squirt water guns. We talked about at family dinners grandma always has a variety of desserts, like 3 or 4 choices, and grandpa always wanted a piece of each. Remember how we would gather around the family dinner table with delicious hot food and wait for grandpa to set up the tripod, get the perfect pose, try to find the flash, and finally take a few family pictures while everyone was telling him to hurry up....hahahha!! He was very patience with us. I'm sure that you may have a different view point during your childhood and teenage years. I've heard a couple of stories about you and Uncle Scott getting in trouble. I know that you loved your dad. I could see it when we would be together.
We were over at grandma's last night and she had dug up some pictures from grandpa's senior year and his time in the military. Grandma was reminiscing and shared some good memories of early years. We also learned that grandpa had a picture of grandma (really young grandma) in his wallet all the time. How precious! He loved his wife and family so dearly.
Mom, I will probably share some more memories over the next few months. It is just so hard to believe. All of these strong emotions and tears also start stirring up thoughts of you. I miss you so much and wish you were here to help us through, cry on your shoulder, and hug you!
Mom...I am gonna hold on to memories of grandpa and treasure his kindness/love for his family and generosity, his humor, his curiosity/yearning for more knowledge of scriptures, and his determination to always get stuff done. Grandpa, you will be missed and always treasured...we love you!
Love, Jenny
