Saying Goodbye

We lost Sean's dad on Friday to cancer. This is a very hard post to write, but I want Jill to be able to read it one day and know how much she was loved by her grandpa. I want her to know that while she only had four short months with him-she meant the world to him. I also want to celebrate the incredible grandpa he was to Emily for the twelve years that he walked beside her..

For Emily..

The moment that Floyd found out that I was pregnant, he wanted a black haired granddaughter with green eyes, but when you came out with blonde fuzz and blue eyes he was captivated by you. Truly as a toddler, your grandpa was everything to you. No one could make you laugh like he could. He played with you on the floor for hours on end, took us on beach vacations, took you fishing, shared pizza with you, built tents, baked biscuits, and endured a frightening tornado with you all before you were four years old. As you grew, he continued to spoil you like crazy giving you anything that you wanted, sleeping on the couch when you visited so you could sleep in his bed, making you cheesy eggs and chocolate gravy, and always having chips and cheese on hand for you to eat. My dear big girl you have been blessed to know the love of your grandpa and to be able to truly experience it is something that you should not take for granted. I am so grateful to God that you have all of these memories to carry in your heart. I only wish we could have had him longer.


For Jillian..

Grandpa anticipated your arrival just as much as he did Emily's. He loved you from the moment we were blessed with you. On Thanksgiving, though you weren't home with us yet, I remember him talking about you as we sat around the table. He wondered where "our" girl was and what she was doing on this day. When arriving home from China, we were met with news that Grandpa wasn't well and your very first visit with him was in the ICU. Then her rallied and we were given a few more months and some precious memories that momma will always carry in her heart of the two of you together. You were so unsure at first if you could play with this curly haired guy. He didn't give up though and as soon as you allowed him, he was on the floor next to you. He read to you and you let him hold you. You would have thought that the world was brighter than it ever had been in that moment because he was able to hold you. We were able to make a trip to see him again in his apartment near the hospital in St. Louis and, though he was not well, he held you on the balcony in the rain for nearly forty minutes as you splashed in the puddles. The last time he saw you, he decided that you might like a ride in the laundry basket and so he hooked a belt on and pulled you around the living room. Oh how you laughed. Seeing you experience being loved by a grandpa was beautiful though it ended much too soon. Know that he loved you with all of his heart.

Both of my girl's lives are richer and beyond blessed because they got to call this man grandpa. So thankful for that. So thankful for how he loved my girls. Praying for God's comfort and peace for my dear husband as he buries his father tomorrow.