My Papa

Ive been wanting to write this post for a couple of weeks now...but i haven't been able to do it.  My Papa met his Savior face to face on February 11th. AND he also got to meet his twin boys who he never got to know here on this earth. He lived a long, full life for 93 years and was married to my Mema for 70 of those years. I struggle to write this post because there is nothing i can say that will truly portray what an amazing man he was. Unless you knew him personally....there is no way to put into words the husband he was to my grandmother, the dad he was to my mom, and grandfather he was me. He was incredibly patient, the definition of kind, a servant of the Lord, and a brilliant engineer. He served our country in WWII, and quickly married my grandmother when Pearl Harbor was attacked because he knew he would be going off to war.  This statement that is what describes him best....

"A Faithful Servant of God, Family and Country"

Levi and especially Brody had the privilege of getting to know their great grandfather. My mom took them over to spend time with him almost once a week. They loved spending time with him! Brody has formed such an amazing relationship with his great grandparents....it is such a blessing! Brody has not had to deal with death in his short little life, so Brian and I prayed for weeks about how to tell him when the time came. When we finally had to share the news of Papa's death with Brody, we told him that we needed to tell him something that was both sad and happy. We explained to him that Jesus had decided to take Papa to heaven with him where he now would have a new body, no pain or sickness, and mostly importantly would get to be with Jesus forever! We told Brody that it was ok to be sad and that we would miss Papa, but He this was also something we should rejoice over. I am sure we were mostly preaching this to ourselves:) Brody took all of this like such a grown up....actually better than the grown ups. His innocence and true joy over Papa being with Jesus has shown us all the way we should view death. This earth and our lives are temporary....our eternity is what matters. 

Brody has said some of the most precious things during this time. Most of what he says brings tears to the eyes of those listening. Here are a few of our conversations.....

When we told Brody about Papa no longer being with us, he immediately said, "Mema, is still here though, right?!"

Brody was sitting in the car having a conversation with my dad about nothing really...then out of the blue he says "POP POP!! Did you know that Papa is in HEAVEN with JESUS!!!" With so much excitement....

When visiting my grandma one day, she was searching for her cane....

Brody says, "Mema, Papa doesn't need a cane in heaven!"

He randomly told Brian and I that "Mema is still old, but Papa is young now!"

He was drawing a picture this week of Jesus and his disciples, He asked if Jesus has a dog. I told Brody that there are probably dogs in heaven but I wasn't sure if Jesus personally had his own dog:) Brody says "Well Papa knows that now, right?!"

Whenever we have conversations about heaven, and I tell him I'm not sure about something, he loves saying that Papa now knows the answers to his questions:)

Thank you, Papa, for the legacy you left our family.  I am so thankful for the Godly example you set as a husband, father, and grandfather.