Miss you Grandpa

My mom texted me this morning. She has been updating me all week on how my Grandpa Peel has been doing. She wrote "Grandpa passed away at 10:20 a.m. peacefully." After reading those words, my eyes overflowed.  I knew he would pass away sometime this week. I've been trying to prepare for it. He has been battling cancer for awhile now and it was his time to go. And I know he is in a better place now, back with our Heavenly Father and all the people he loves.  I know that death does not separate us and that I will see him again someday. But it's still so hard. I miss him.

It's been a whole year since I saw him last.  I think that's what makes it the hardest for me. Does he know how much he means to me and the example he has always been in my life? It's so hard for me to live far away from the people I care about most. I wish I could have changed that. I wish I could have given him just one more hug.

But I am grateful for all the memories I have with him. I lived with my grandparents for a whole summer during high school. It had been a kinda rough year for me, but they showered me with love while I was there and made me feel special. I love them for that. 

I remember how much we loved to play the game rummikube. My grandma would always pull out a secret stash of peanut m&m's and we would have fun playing a few rounds together at the table before bed.

I loved how after dinner that summer, my Grandpa would scoop up big bowls of ice cream and tell us that he had to eat it because his doctor told him he needed to gain some weight! And my Grandma and I would laugh and she would tell him that he already gained the weight back and was just using that as an excuse!

He was up every morning at 6 to do his exercises and read his scriptures, then outside he usually went to work on his yard and garden.  And being a teenager, I would sleep in late and would wander upstairs from my basement room around 10. He would laugh at me and tell me everything he had already accomplished in his day. Then he would have his "2nd" breakfast with me while I ate mine. He would always mix his cereals at breakfast and made the best wheat waffles in the world!

I can remember listening to my Grandpa say the prayer at night before bed and hearing him bless each of his grandchildren one by one in it.  It made me feel so special that he would take the time to do that since he has so many.

I was able to give him a hug every night before bed that summer. I am grateful for that.

I feel so thankful that my 2 boys were able to meet him while he was still here. Especially for this day, a year ago, when we went to the air force museum with him.  That my boys could hear him tell them which kind of planes he used to navigate in the air force.  That Tyler could sit on his lap in the wheelchair and cuddle with him as we looked around.  It means so much to me now and the pictures from this day make me happy. I think I will cherish them all my life.

I am grateful that I know that I will see him again someday. It's not something I have to question or wonder about. I know it.  I can't imagine how much harder this would be if I thought I would never see him again. If I thought that this was the end. It gives me one more reason to choose the right and make good choices while I'm here. So I can be with both of my Grandpa's again.  This is actually the very same day that my Grandpa Richardson passed away so many years ago. I know they are both with our Heavenly Father again and that is a happy thing. 

Love you Grandpa and I always will.

I miss you