I will always have the memories.
This Tuesday my family suffered a great loss. My grandfather (my dad's dad) passed away. For the past month or so he has been getting increasingly worse. A couple weeks ago he had half his leg amputated in attempt to keep infection from spreading in his body. He has been fighting a battle for a while now that ended this week. It has been a tough situation, and I know it will be even tougher Friday at the funeral. Pray for strength for myself as well as my entire family.
My grandma and grandpa Williams were such a big part of mine and my brother's lives growing up. They lived a hop, skip, and jump away from us. Literally. From the time my brother could walk, he was venturing down to their house. (with or without my parents permission. There are sooo many funny stories behind that statement.)
When we were growing up, we would ride our bikes up the side street beside our house, take a right onto Main Street and glide down the hill. Then a slight left and loop around our grandparents' house. You could almost always discover grandpa sitting outside in or in front of the garage. He would be watching the cars drive by, or have some little project he was working on. Honestly, I think he was waiting for us. I don't know very many days that went by where Nick and I didn't venture that way for a visit. Nicholas (as he was always called by grandpa) would stay outside with grandpa in the garage. That is where the men and boys solved the problems of the world. :) I would go into the kitchen with grandma and learn the womanly things like how to fry chicken, make dumplins, and bake apple pie. All things I still love to do!
Nick and I used to always stay over night with our grandparents on Friday nights. Now, for those of you who know my brother and me, you know we are extremely close and best friends now. Well......when we were younger, we were......normal little siblings. Nick tried to be the king of pestering and I was the queen of whining about it. We were young and around each other every single day, almost all day long. The pesturing and whining was bound to happen. That isn't to say that we didn't enjoy each others' company, cause we had a blast together growing up. But, when you see each other all day, every day, all week long....Friday night can be a little tense sometimes. Our grandparents were saints. They almost always let us come together and kept us from killing each other when we were just so tired and still pestering and whiney.
After we would stay over Friday night, came the Saturday morning festivities. Let's start out with breakfast. One thing I always remember about my grandpa is the way he drank his coffee. He had a coffe mug AND saucer. He would sit the mug inside this big saucer, and pour his coffee until it overflowed into the saucer. He would then take the mug out of the saucer, pick up the saucer and drink out of it. He wanted his coffee to be cooled to perfection before taking a drink. After he emptied the contents of the saucer, he picked up his coffe mug, poured more in the saucer, and continued to drink from the saucer. This was just grandpa....drinking his coffee...in a way that I have only ever seen him do it. I told Nick he needs that cup and saucer. I don't want to see it thrown away or lost.
Now after breakfast we took an amazing trip down to the Millstone Market. We would jump out of the car, get two dollars each, and go in and decide how we would spend our fortune! Would I get Laffy Taffy, sunflower seeds, a Hershey's bar, or maybe a ton on Everlasting Gobstoppers. We could let our imagination run wild, as well as our inner math skills. We made that two dollars go as far as it would as grandma did her grocery shopping. Could Saturday morning get any better for two young kids???
My grandpa had many interesting things around his place that Nick and I saw as wonderful instruments for adventure. I can still remember riding around in a three-wheel bicycle grandpa kept around for us. There was a basket in the back between the two back wheels. Nick would sit in the seat and peddle, and I would ride in the basket. (This was a long time ago if you couldn't tell from that last statement. Don't remember the last time I fit in a BICYCLE BASKET. Lol!) Well, we rode ALL over in this thing. One day, Nick took a REALLY sharp turn, and we went straight into a HUGE bush! WHAM-O! No one was hurt. Not even that tricycle. I actually think we did that more than once. ;)
These memories just barely scratch on the surface of all the wonderful events that flood my mind this week. Although my grandpa is now gone, he will live forever in me with my memories. Nick and I may never see him in person, on this earth again, but we can see him any time we wish. All we have to do is remember all the good times we spent with him. The Lord gave us so many wonderful gifts. He gave us a brain, heart, and a soul with the power to remember those we have lost and still feel the love we have with them and for them just by thinking of a time we went to Millstone Market with them....or sitting on their lap at a birthday party. I get to feel that man's love anytime I want to....all I have to do is think about it and remember how he showed me he loved me. Thank you Lord. Thank you for letting me see my grandpa whenever I want through my memories. Take good care of him until I see him again. And if you don't mind, Lord, tell him thanks for the memories, and that I love him!
My grandma and grandpa Williams were such a big part of mine and my brother's lives growing up. They lived a hop, skip, and jump away from us. Literally. From the time my brother could walk, he was venturing down to their house. (with or without my parents permission. There are sooo many funny stories behind that statement.)
When we were growing up, we would ride our bikes up the side street beside our house, take a right onto Main Street and glide down the hill. Then a slight left and loop around our grandparents' house. You could almost always discover grandpa sitting outside in or in front of the garage. He would be watching the cars drive by, or have some little project he was working on. Honestly, I think he was waiting for us. I don't know very many days that went by where Nick and I didn't venture that way for a visit. Nicholas (as he was always called by grandpa) would stay outside with grandpa in the garage. That is where the men and boys solved the problems of the world. :) I would go into the kitchen with grandma and learn the womanly things like how to fry chicken, make dumplins, and bake apple pie. All things I still love to do!
Nick and I used to always stay over night with our grandparents on Friday nights. Now, for those of you who know my brother and me, you know we are extremely close and best friends now. Well......when we were younger, we were......normal little siblings. Nick tried to be the king of pestering and I was the queen of whining about it. We were young and around each other every single day, almost all day long. The pesturing and whining was bound to happen. That isn't to say that we didn't enjoy each others' company, cause we had a blast together growing up. But, when you see each other all day, every day, all week long....Friday night can be a little tense sometimes. Our grandparents were saints. They almost always let us come together and kept us from killing each other when we were just so tired and still pestering and whiney.
After we would stay over Friday night, came the Saturday morning festivities. Let's start out with breakfast. One thing I always remember about my grandpa is the way he drank his coffee. He had a coffe mug AND saucer. He would sit the mug inside this big saucer, and pour his coffee until it overflowed into the saucer. He would then take the mug out of the saucer, pick up the saucer and drink out of it. He wanted his coffee to be cooled to perfection before taking a drink. After he emptied the contents of the saucer, he picked up his coffe mug, poured more in the saucer, and continued to drink from the saucer. This was just grandpa....drinking his coffee...in a way that I have only ever seen him do it. I told Nick he needs that cup and saucer. I don't want to see it thrown away or lost.
Now after breakfast we took an amazing trip down to the Millstone Market. We would jump out of the car, get two dollars each, and go in and decide how we would spend our fortune! Would I get Laffy Taffy, sunflower seeds, a Hershey's bar, or maybe a ton on Everlasting Gobstoppers. We could let our imagination run wild, as well as our inner math skills. We made that two dollars go as far as it would as grandma did her grocery shopping. Could Saturday morning get any better for two young kids???
My grandpa had many interesting things around his place that Nick and I saw as wonderful instruments for adventure. I can still remember riding around in a three-wheel bicycle grandpa kept around for us. There was a basket in the back between the two back wheels. Nick would sit in the seat and peddle, and I would ride in the basket. (This was a long time ago if you couldn't tell from that last statement. Don't remember the last time I fit in a BICYCLE BASKET. Lol!) Well, we rode ALL over in this thing. One day, Nick took a REALLY sharp turn, and we went straight into a HUGE bush! WHAM-O! No one was hurt. Not even that tricycle. I actually think we did that more than once. ;)
These memories just barely scratch on the surface of all the wonderful events that flood my mind this week. Although my grandpa is now gone, he will live forever in me with my memories. Nick and I may never see him in person, on this earth again, but we can see him any time we wish. All we have to do is remember all the good times we spent with him. The Lord gave us so many wonderful gifts. He gave us a brain, heart, and a soul with the power to remember those we have lost and still feel the love we have with them and for them just by thinking of a time we went to Millstone Market with them....or sitting on their lap at a birthday party. I get to feel that man's love anytime I want to....all I have to do is think about it and remember how he showed me he loved me. Thank you Lord. Thank you for letting me see my grandpa whenever I want through my memories. Take good care of him until I see him again. And if you don't mind, Lord, tell him thanks for the memories, and that I love him!
Erin,
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice blog.
Isn't it amazing what things you remember the most? I remember that my papa had a car air freshener that smelled like his cologne. I used to hold I could wear his cologne, too!
It is the small memories like those that will always mean the most. I pray that while it is never easy, you and your family find more peace by the day.
Love you.
Arla
I obviously lost part of a sentence. "I used to hold it so..." lol.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin,
ReplyDeleteI'm your second cousin - your Dad is my cousin, and your Grandpa Williams was my Uncle LeRoy. My Mom is Kathleen Blackman Hoffman (your Grandma's sister), so my Mom is your Great-Aunt.
Cousin Lorie directed me to this blog and what a beautiful story you've shared. My heart goes out to you and your family on the loss of your Grandpa. My Mom & Dad are traveling down there today and will be present at the funeral.
God's richest blessings to you and yours always,
Linda Hoffman Kelley in Rantoul, Illinois
Beautifully written Erin. I had very similar thoughts & feelings about my Grandpa when he passed away. Thank you for putting it in such eloquent words.
ReplyDelete-Scott