Never Underestimate You

I have promised many upcoming posts, and this isn't one that I was planning on. I knew it would eventually come, but it is always more difficult when it arrives.

My grandpa passed away a little over two weeks ago. This is the reason for my absence from the blogging world because my mind has been elsewhere. Being there for my mom, traveling to Colorado to clean out one of my most adored places, and attending his funeral service.

I tried my hardest to make it out before he passed, but with Chris out of town for work and my flight not arriving until Friday, he just couldn't wait to be with my grandma and passed on a Tuesday night. All in all I am happy that they are together. The sadness for me comes from closing a chapter that was filled with many memories that filled the house on 1214 Mountain, Fort Collins, Colorado.

I wrote a little speech to read at the service. The many ways that he and my grandma influenced my life. Having many speakers who wanted to say something about the man who contributed to a whole community and helping with the kids, I just didn't make it up there. But I am okay with that. I think they know what they have done for me. Not just for me, but the many who stood up to speak about a man who served his community, his church, his country on the front lines of Normandy, and above all, his beloved wife.

Never underestimate the power of you. The way you choose to live your life can impact your grand daughter who lives 450 miles away or your local Ace Hardware cashier. 

I learned many things from the both of them. To never stop laughing. And the best laughs can come from the most clean of all jokes or pranks. 

To give to your community. This is a difficult one. It is easy for all of us to go places and be in and out, give a quick wave on the way to drop off your kid at dance, stay in your house, your own backyard, your own circle. This is one I am trying to work on all the time. And I will try to always have Ted in the back of my head telling me to tell just one quick joke before I rush on my way.

The most important one of all is something that I took in from the both of them over the past thirty years. Not something I just observed as a young adult, but something that I took notice of from a very young age. It was to find someone like they did. Find some one who makes me laugh until I cry, pinches my tooshie, hugs me often, calls me on the intercom from the basement just to ask how I am doing, respects me above all else, and has that look when they see me, whether we are 25 or 75. I have never and maybe will never again see what I saw between my grandparents. 

Even though I married my high school sweetheart and many would think that is the easy way to go, it wasn't. There was something there from the time we were 15. And I am not just talking love. We laughed a lot. We respected each other and what we both stood for and came from.  We were best friends. We had difficult times. Some really good times. And eventually a time where we gave each other a hug good bye and decided to be friends and see where life took us. And we were okay with that. In the back of our minds we both knew where we would end up. Here today, with two kids and one on the way. A dog. Him kissing me on the cheek good bye in the morning. Me making him dinner.  

I can only thank my lucky stars my grandparents taught me what they did about love and marriage by the time Chris came along. Because there is no one else in this world I would want pinching my tooshie as I pass him in the kitchen.