A Lasting Legacy

I have sat down to write this post a few times in the last couple of days and every time I couldn’t put into words how I felt about David’s Grandpa.

I never had a Grandpa in my life until I met Big Daddy. I think I may have fallen in love with his Grandma and Grandpa about a half a second before I fell in love with Big Daddy. They were the most incredible couple. From the first time I met them I felt part of their family and loved by them. During this last weekend I saw so many pictures of them as a young couple that I haven’t seen before. They were a very attractive couple. And there was just something about them that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. And then I realized what it was…they were Sassy.

As they got older Grandma required constant care because of her arthritis and Grandpa was there for her. The amount of service he gave her is mind boggling, but his face always showed how much he truly loved her. It was heartbreaking when she passed away and he was left alone. He has trudged on the last few years, but you could tell he longed to be with his beloved wife. My favorite thing will always be that he had a great sense of humor and he had passed that on to his family.

On Sunday as his family gathered together for his viewing. There was an amazing group of his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The room was filled with love and laughter. A true tribute to the type of man he was.

On Monday morning we gathered at the church for a family prayer before the funeral. The room was so crowded, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instead I felt a family together embracing each other. When we went into the chapel for the actual funeral I realized that there were so many of us that they had blocked the chapel for family and we almost filled the whole thing. It was a lovely service. I loved hearing his life story. I had heard most of the stories before, but there were a few new things I learned about Grandpa.

After the funeral at the Church we went to the cemetery.

The oldest grandsons from each family were the casket bearers.

Since Grandpa was a World War II veteran he had a military honor guard there for him.

Here is the Chaos at the cemetery.

Big Daddy’s Mom is the youngest of her family. Here is her legacy of 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=1257278907991&ref=mf

This is a link to a video on facebook that one of the grandchildren put together. It is 20 minutes long, but lovely.