Grandpa

 

Me and Grandpa

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23

I slowly read those words to my Grandpa over a phone that was on speaker and held up to his ears by the sweet lady in the assisted living home. She had been tasked with taking care of him over the last few months since Grandma became sick and passed away in January. 

Grandpa, Coffee, and Sweets - a love triangle! 

Mom had texted first thing Monday morning that she had received a call from the home and that it seemed as if that day would be his last. Mom wanted to give us a heads up and an opportunity to call if we wanted to. I was grateful for the opportunity but truth be told I dragged my heels because what do you say at the end of it all? 

Good Shepherd Sunday was this last Sunday and it was fresh on my mind. Mom had mentioned that she had used this theme in their devotion, songs, and art she had brought for their last time together, too. By this time I was told he wouldn't respond but he could hear me, and so I put on my big girl pants and called my Grandpa for the last time on this side of eternity.

Grandpa and my Mom

Saying goodbye to the man we named our own son after was bittersweet. Getting to tell him what really mattered at the end of it all was overwhelming and a well needed reminder to my own perspective. 

Big Will and Little Will

Teaching his great grandson to drive a boat

I got to thank him for being such a great grandpa.  When we were kids he outfitted a riding lawn mower to be the grandkids' wheels to cruise around the property on. We spent hours in the woods surrounding their home taking turns driving and pretending to be a bus picking each other up. Or all the times he would pick me up from Prep in a borrowed airplane to bring me home for the weekend. Then there was all the videos he'd take of seemingly mundane moments of our lives he would treat as an all important moment in time that we could never get back but worth documenting. The countless trips they'd take to visit family no matter where any of us lived in the country (or out, as the case was for us), showed such a high priority for the family they loved and their adventurous spirit in exploring different places outside their mid-western home. But it wasn't any of the above memories that truly made him the great grandpa he was. He was a redeemed child of God who Jesus dearly loved and because of that he told his kids who told their kids who now tells their kids about how Jesus loves them too. That's what makes him such a great grandpa and that is what I thanked him for. 

Will and Will

Grandpa passed away Monday morning - shortly after my call with him. 

I'll miss my Hand and Foot partner. Together we called our team "The Young and the Restless" (I'm not sure who was what sometimes). And I have this overwhelming urge to take up the banjo and go to Branson, Missouri to enjoy some music shows. For now I'll listen to my favorite Johnny Cash album and think of what a great Grandpa God gave me. 

 

Break for Spring

We've had a whirlwind of activity here since Snowmaggdon hit. After we recovered from our solid week of winter (I know, so sad), we assessed the damage and started to make plans.

Thankfully the worst damage we had to our property was to some of the landscaping never meant to survive freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. It was really minimal though and most plants have started peeking through what had looked dead.

Meanwhile we've been putting on hold the work needed to be done at church until after we got through Lent, Easter, and a Sunday of special occasions. It's been slightly overwhelming to my brain so I've been taking one event at a time and it's worked out OK so far! 

Zanna came home for Spring Break! We managed to briefly get out of town for a fun day while she was here. We headed to Ft. Worth and spent an evening at Brent and Chantal's place to visit and let the cousins hang out. The next day we headed over to the Ft Worth Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we soooooooo enjoyed ourselves! We stopped for some BBQ for lunch before heading back to our neck of the woods.

Easter at Grace was way more normal than last year! We had a beautiful service with a good sized group, Easter breakfast beforehand, and hosted Easter dinner at home later that evening. 

One of my favorite things I've loved about sending our kids to Luther Prep is how they come home playing the piano. It's like a miracle to me. Finally something I didn't teach them or have to drive them to weekly! And because the mission of Prep is to prepare God's people for serving in the church, they are being equipped to do just that. Our worship leader, Ruth, worked with Zanna to play for Palm Sunday worship and it was amazing! 

Oh! And Will was almost home for Easter. Except he wasn't.

A close friend from his school tested positive for Covid during a mandatory testing. Because he listed Will and his roommate as close friends, they were supposed to quarantine in their rooms over Easter weekend. Once school resumed on Tuesday, they were to then take a Covid test and go from there. 

Feeling confident that there was no way he had Covid (because our feelings are super scientific), he received permission from the nurse and his father to come home. Nobody asked me until after he was on the road. 

Anywho .... I demanded  suggested that when he arrived home in the middle of the night he go directly to his room and stay there only coming out when it was time for his rapid test appointment the next morning. Meanwhile Zanna and I were out the door early that next morning for a shopping day trip and awaited the results that would determine what would happen next.

I'm sure, dear reader, you see where this is going. He tested positive. Since it was noon by now and too late to drive back to Minnesota from Texas (having just arrived the day before) he stayed in his corner of the house and I brought food to leave at the top of the stairs where I would wave to him from afar. He drove back the next day to live out the rest of his quarantine time with his fellow Covid positive friends in a house near campus. Thankfully none of them experienced any symptoms and they ended up enjoying (dare I say?) a week off of school to work out in their homemade gym, sit out by the bonfire at night, and who knows what else ...

Which meant he came home for about 30 hours and I got to spend the last half of Holy Week disinfecting everything he might have touched up there. Awesome. 

Having said that we all felt bad for him and tried our best to show him love from a distance. I bought him protein bars and avocados in bulk from Sam's Club. I kept the meals coming to the top of the stairs. Zanna made him cookies and wrote him this sweet note: