The reason I started .....

 This was the day that i decided to start blogging.. My great grandfather was such an inspiration to me and i loved his ability to be able to remember all of the sweet memories he did... hints the reason i wanted to start blogging for some ( me time) and (document memories)!

Today my Pa went to be with our Lord after 86 wonderful years. To know him was to love him. He had the biggest heart and all the love in the world to spread around. He had a zest for life that was so undescribable.. and his family was his biggest asset. He loved his family beyond words and he was loved in return by the wonderful family he started. As I think about the long and wonderful life that he lived I cant help but to cry tears of joy, and then I cant help but to stop in my tracks and thank God for blessing me so much by putting one of the greatest men ill ever know in my life.

I asked and prayed to God so many times that if anything, I could see him before he decided to take him home to be with him.. God answered that prayer x10! I was so very thankful that I could be able to spend his last few moments here with us next to him! and thats what I did every time i was with him i held his hand and told him how much he was loved and when able to he would always say "I love you too hun"!........ You see all of our hearts are hurting right now but we have to remember that life is a puzzle.. a puzzle that God puts together and he has the whole picture of our life puzzle where as we only get one piece at a time.... Pa had a huge puzzle filled with so many memories with his wife of 69 years, his 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. The last piece of his puzzle was put in today.... and i am so thankful i was there! Today as i was outside swinging on Ma and Pa's swing on their front porch i thought about the puzzle piece he first started with on September 12, 1924 when he was born.. to the puzzle where he met his sweetheart and lifelong partner that fit together next to piece on the day they got married. The puzzle pieces he had all throughout his time as he served in the Navy in WWII. All 4 pieces of his puzzle of all the babies he had along with his first son that they lost at birth... that soon followed all of his grandchildren to great grandchildren... and all the pieces that fall in between of fishing memories with his son and grandchildren,and all the puzzle pieces of the memories he made with Ma talking out in their yard that they enjoyed so much together and watching their family grow.  Even though his puzzle is now completed and he is up in heaven being an amazing new guardian angel to all of us I speak for myself and I know i am  safe to speak for my family when i say so many of our puzzle pieces that have already been put together contain so many memories with Pa in them  and that big ole smile that would melt your heart.

 My Ma is so extremely strong and one heck of a woman...As she sat there and said her goodbyes to him this morning she looked up and said " I had always prayed he would go first so i could take care of him, because there is no way i could ever repay him for taking care of me the way he has all these years". Pa did just that he never let her worry about a thing, he loved her unconditionally, and wanted nothing more than to make her happy!

 For many of you that know me.. yall know that Lady Antabellum is my all time favorite country group... My favorite song of theirs is "When you got a good thing"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Juxpf4_v0, a song i ve always thought I would want played at my own wedding because i always said it would describe just how me and the future husband that God has in store for me will be.. tonight as I driving alone in my car the song came on... I looked at it in a whole diffrent way... It describes my Ma and Pa to a T everything the lyrics say paint a perfect picture of their relationshp! Seeing the way they had such a GOOD THING only makes me look forward to the man God has in store for me.  How he treated, loved, and adored my Ma... shows me excatly what i deserve in my future! Him and Ma had so much to offer to one another and that they did! She loved him back just as much! He was her heart... She was his heart and  thats the way it will always be!

As the day went on and we continued to cook and go on with Thanksgiving as we normally would of as hard as it was, we knew Pa wouldnt have wanted it any other way. See before I would of believed that him passing on Thanksgiving wouldnt of been much of a memorable Thanksgiving but as i sat by his side... God spoke to me and said "This is what you have to be Thankful for" I think this was Gods way of showing all of us how precious life is! And how we should celebrate and rejoice in the fact that he was called home with his family all surrounding him! The family he loved so much and loved him in return! His hospice nurse wrote on his chart that he had one of the best nurturing,warming,and loving families she has ever seen for a patient. When i saw her today i said yep! thats right.... just as he always was to us!

On this Thanksgiving day the world,my family, and I lost one great fishermen,a devout rebel fan, a hard working father and husband, a Navy WWII veteran, and one of the sweetest hearts and kindest husband, father, uncle, grandfather,and great grandfather ANYONE COULD ASK FOR! BUT heaven sure did gain one amazing and handsome Angel that will now and forever dwell in the house of our Lord watching over us until we all arrive home too. and i can only imagine that when my day comes or anyone else in my family he will greet us as he always did by saying " Well heyyyy there sugar pie...come on in.. we sure have missed you and love you so much"!

So thanks Pa for the amazing example you were to me and all the inspiration you gave me... and for all those puzzle pieces in my life that you have made so memorable, and Thank you God for giving me such a wonderful great grandfather i could call "My Pa"

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!