It's soo hard to say Goodbye

My Grandfather recently passed and as the family (me included) is in route to attend the funeral, I am left with tending to my many emotions running about. Based on the discussions I have heard thus far, some are reflecting on the good times, some are reflecting on the bad times, some are reflecting on the relationship they had (or did not have) with my grandfather, some are reflecting on the potential of an inheritance, some are simply reflecting, but all are mourning in their own way.

Emotions play themselves out in so many different ways, one can never tell what is going to happen at a funeral.  With so much emotional uncertainty, you begin to hear the pleas of, "can we have a drama free funeral?"  While these are genuine expressions, the challenge is that feelings are often irrational and therefore can't be controlled in the heat of the moment.

I have been so busy with traveling for work these past three weeks that it really has not set in for me just yet.  Just maybe I am one of the 'drama wildcards' which will erupt once the activities begin?  I do have some great memories of my grandfather, it was he who first gave me and my brother exposure outside of Utah.  He would bring us out to California for the summer and ask his wife (Irene) to cart us around and show us most of what Los Angeles had to offer.  Coming from Ogden, Utah - it had alot to offer and it is here that I begin to form ideas of what was possible - Thanks for that Grandpa!

Then there was the other grandpa who when filled with alcohol was tormented by his demons of the past and in turn often tormented those around him.  I was too young to decipher if it was the alcohol or simply a mean troll of a human hanging out inside of him.  As I got older, right or wrong, I came to the conclusion that it was a little bit of both.

When it is all said and done, this fact remains, I LOVED my grandfather.  He was the only grandfather I had, my other grandfather died when my father was a young boy.  There were those special times we had when he eat peanuts with me and my brother and talk about life, hard work, thinking for yourself, of course women - sorry Mom :) and the list goes on.

As this chapter closes, I can say without hesitation - I was BLESSED to have a grandfather to do just what grandfathers do - expose their grandchildren to life and help make sense of the wild and wacky things that adults do.

Good Bye Grandpa, I CHOOSE to remember the good times and will dearly miss you!

Romans 8:35 - 38: 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.