Honored

It's been a rough couple days around here.  Wednesday evening my grandfather, Pa, passed away.  He was almost 96 years old (birthday is next month) and has not been feeling well for some time.  It is truly a blessing that he is finally with my grandma again.  As much as I know that this is what is best for him, I am still selfishly sad and miss him terribly.

He is the reason I (and many of my cousins) went to college.  He and my grandma set up a trust fund for all of the grandchildren to go to college.  Without his financial (and emotional) support, it would have been much more difficult for me to go to Meredith College and really be where I am today.  He taught me the importance of an education (even though I didn't want to learn that lesson most of the time), family, honesty and integrity.

He was a strong and very calculated man and there was reason behind everything he did (even if you didn't know it at the time).  Even though his body was worn out from his long life, he was mentally strong up until the end.  One of his favorite "games" to play with me was to quiz me on my knowledge of the state capitals.  I used to study up on the state capitals before I would go over for my weekly dinner so that I could impress him. 

I will always fondly remember all of the time that I got to spend with Pa.  My earliest memories are of being with him and Grandma at either the beach house or the house in Louisburg.  It's not that we were doing anything special-we were just together and happy.

He leaves behind a long legacy of family that I hope will continue to live life with the kind of love and integrity that he did.  I'm just sorry that Baby never got to meet him and that Pa never got to hold Baby-but I know that he already loved him.

His obituary can be viewed here.