Heaven must need a good laugh, because yesterday the angels came and took my granddaddy there. He’s probably up there telling jokes right now and making everybody laugh, because that’s what he did.
We had a nickname for him – Mr. B-Positive. Not only was his blood type B positive, no better phrase could describe his personality. Nothing could get him down.
My grandpa was an architect, a jokester, a father to three, a grandfather to four, a gardener, a reader, a woodworker, a war veteran, a photographer, and a storyteller. He loved crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, the beach, my grandma (who he so often greeted as “Love”), and family traditions, like taking all the women of the family out for lunch on Christmas Eve or giving every member of the family a check on their birthday for the amount of the number of years life lived.
Thanks to Grandpa, I have some essential life skills, like the importance of saving money and knowing the difference between concrete and cement (I honestly didn’t know there was a difference until last year; my eyes have been opened to a whole new world.)
I had the privilege of growing up with my grandparents. We even lived next
doorto them for about seven years. A man who loved tools and wood, he built me swings, a treehouse, and a gymnastics bar out of scrap wood. When he cut the grass, he would pull me in a wagon behind the riding mower. I spent many nights sleeping over at his house, catching fireflies on the front porch in the summer time or putting on plays in the living room.
I’m going to miss some of his quirkier habits, like stopping the passing of food at family meals to pray as soon as his plate was ready, or critiquing every building he went into on their failure to comply with certain building codes (and, in some cases, speaking to the owner about it, to the embarrassment of those of us with him). And though he was so young at heart, I will miss his few “old man” ways, like ranting about how crazy people are that would poke holes in their ears to hang jewelry
Sometime Thursday night (I think), he passed away peacefully in his home that he designed himself over 50 years ago. He was surrounded by as many family members as could have been there. It certainly was not easy to get a phone call from the AIM office at 10:00 at night telling me that he’d passed. I sat on the front step of our house in the middle of Cambodia in the rain – it rains a lot in Cambodia – and cried. Oddly enough, though, I was at complete peace. It was not unexpected, and in fact, God had a certain way of preparing me for the news. Yesterday was our day off, and we went into Phnom Penh. We were able to get internet for the first time since being here, and I received a message in a roundabout sort of way letting me know that his time would likely end in the next day or two. I actually read the message on a friend’s computer, because I didn’t have mine with me. Had I been on my own computer yesterday, I might have seen my own Facebook messages before I got the phone call. I would rather not have gone to pieces in the middle of a coffee shop. 🙂 On top of that, I did not receive the call until after we returned home, so our time in the city didn’t have to be interrupted by the news.
Grandpa had been suffering for a long time, and as desperately as I wanted to see him in November when I get off that plane, I didn’t want him to continue suffering for that long. It brings me great peace to know that he is with our Savior now. The best part is that no one up there has heard any of his jokes, so when he tells the one about the pope and the feather, everyone around him won’t smile and nod and pretend that they really haven’t heard that one a dozen times already.
Yesterday I lost a Grandpa. Others lost a father, a husband, a brother, and a friend. The hardware store lost a regular, and the Clemson Tigers lost a loyal fan. But if anything, we only have to celebrate the amazing life this man led and to be grateful for the legacy he’s left behind.
The ladies’ Christmas Eve lunch 2010 – about a week before I left for the Race
I love you, Granddaddy!
