Curly

Five years ago today, my grandpa Curly lost his battle with cancer.

It's kind of odd that we are going through this series at church on bucket lists around the same time of his passing. Last weekend's service was on living in the moment.

I think that people go through all kinds of circumstances that makes them rethink their priorities....ours happened to be our finances and then now with Jim working such crazy hours we have really fine tuned what really matters in our lives.

Last night I couldn't sleep....there I was laying there reflecting on my grandpa's life and what he stood for. I remember going to visit him every time I went in to work the last few weeks before he died. I kept waiting for this big emotional moment that we hear happens as people near the end....it never happened. For quite sometime, I wondered in disappointment why. My grandpa was not a fluffy warm fuzzy man, so it shouldn't surprise me I guess.....but as I lay there last night I realized that he lived his life telling us that he loved us!

He was a soldier, but he never really spoke of his journey. He was a deputy sheriff and did give us some glimpses ( he took John Wayne Gaisey back and forth to jail during his trial, his motto was that "if a woman in labor can make it to the squad, she can make it to the hospital"). But more then that he was a great grandpa! We went fishing from before I could remember (betting us that he could catch 2 fish before we caught 1.....he had a rod with 2 hooks on it....he always won that bet!) My grandparents picked us up from school, being sick was always better when we got to go to there house, and I can't ever remember a function that they missed whether it was a basketball game, concert or award thing...they were always there.

Grandpa also let me do a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have: like mowing his lawn on a riding lawn mower...."Do you know how to drive it?"..."Sure!"....thing was that I didn't know how to stop!....drove it right into the back of the barn!!!! I about lost grandma out the back of the boat when he let me drive for the first time....I always saw him driving when we were skiing, so I just punched it...hehehehe!

He also took us to South Dakota, Crystal and I played Nintendo throughout the whole trip....I would have kicked us out and made us walk, but he didn't~ without that trip, I wouldn't know what a Corn Palace was or a South Dakota Turd Bird! Him and grandma drove my bridesmaids and I to the church. And he made countless trips to the lake so my sister and I could swim!

For those of you who struggle with the absence of words of affection from those who have passed or those who are right there in front of your face, look at their lives more then the lack of words....I'm sure you'll find love laced all through out!

Please go to my songs list and play Mairzy Doats in honor of Curly! He sang this song around the house and I just thought it was grandpa being crazy!