Sad Post

The bad part about funerals: saying goodbye to the person that left us. The good part about funerals: the people they bring together.

We said goodbye to my Grandpa Joe this week. As I mentioned, he's been having a rough couple of months, but when we saw him over Thanksgiving, I thought he'd be making progress toward recovery. But, he decided he was tired and it was his time to go. We'll miss him dearly, but I'm glad he's at peace.

He was a great man. He didn't come into my life until I was 3 (my maternal grandfather died 2 years before I was born), but I don't remember a time that he wasn't there. He was my grandpa, blood or no blood. He was a great husband to my grandma and a dad to my aunts and uncles. He had a great sense of humor, and he loved Christmas. They always had the biggest bushiest Christmas tree he could find. And considering they had a small house, that meant we were all tripping over it. :)

I can still hear him saying "Ohhhhh, Katie-did" whenever I'd walk in the door. I loved how he would say "Love YOU guys" whenever I'd tell him we loved him. He loved gingersnaps and pie. He loved eating at Bob Evans. He used to go out multiple times a day for random paper products (tissues, toilet paper, papertowels). I opened the cabinet in my grandma's bathroom this week to change the toilet paper roll and saw his stash of tissues; it made me laugh just thinking about him combing the ads looking for deals on them. He had a huge hat collection of random baseball caps that he'd find. One of his favorite hats was a blue hat with a yellow hand flipping you the bird. Such a goofball.

He loved taking trips to Amish Country and watching the Cleveland Browns (I don't think it's any coincidence that the Browns won the night before his funeral). One of his prized possessions was his Cleveland Brown village (think a Hallmark Christmas village type thing). He loved to surprise Grandma with jewelry for Christmas and flowers for no reason.

I was reminded this week of what an amazing family I have. They're there in the good times and they're there in the bad times. I can always count on any of them and without a doubt, they make me laugh, as we did many times this week reminiscing. I am so grateful that I have an incredible dad, an awesome brother, cousins I'm close to, and aunts and uncles that love me like I'm one of their own. I cherish my grandma, a strong, loving woman who was more concerned with comforting her grandchildren than her own grief.

I am especially grateful that the last thing I said to my grandpa was "I love you" and hearing him say "Love YOU guys" in return.

RIP Grandpa.