An Honest Man

As some of you may have noticed, I've been mia for most of the week. That is because over the weekend, my grandfather passed away. We knew it was coming eventually, but not like this, not this soon. I'm sitting here barely able to put complete sentences together because I am just so exhausted in every sense of the word.

I would like to dedicate this post to him because he was such an amazing man (and because he read my blog.) There are so many memories that we have with him and I would like to share a few with all of you.

• He made the BEST burgers EVER. Hands down. 
• After Grandmama was gone, he continued the birthday outing traditions which usually included go-karts :)
• He always pressured guys that I brought over to eat until they couldn't move. I guess that was his way of testing their manliness...haha 
• Family Skype sessions
• I taught him how to do the cha cha slide- and he caught on pretty quick
• He was a man of faith, and he lived his life as an example. He always put others first, and he never met a stranger. 

What I didn't learn about him until this week was how much so many people looked up to him. Since he served as a firefighter for 25 years, he was given a formal Fireman's Funeral. I'd never been to one of these before and I do have to say that it's a really neat way to send him off. It was remarkable to see how close of a family these firemen had become. For three days he had the Honor Guard standing at his side to "protect" him. On the way to the gravesite, there were so many firetrucks and police officers lined up on sides of the road, highways, and overpasses saluting as he drove past. It was really cool to see how one person's life could affect so many. There was a huge American flag hanging from the same ladder truck that he once drove. At the very end, he was given a "last call." All the firemen had their radios turned up and they called his name one last time, which was heard throughout all of the stations. At that moment, I was taken back to Grandpapa as a young firefighter. That's how he will be remembered by many. A man who worked hard, cared so much for others, and saved lives. As hard as these past several days have been, our family finds comfort in knowing that we will one day see him again. And in the meantime, he gets to make up for lost time with Grandmama. :)

These are some of my favorite pictures that we found this week while going through old albums

 Grandpapa & Grandmama

Grandpapa & Grandmama

This is my absolute favorite picture of him. It looks straight out of a movie.

He's the one in the middle without a helmet.

Me & Grandpapa

Dad, Grandpapa, & Mom

Christmas 2009

Me & my favorite fireman <3

Grandpapa and his girls :)

We miss you Grandpapa. 

Til' next time :)