Chandes passed away this past Friday at the age of 91. (February 18th, 2011)
more.
key moments of his last week on earth,
including his last day of consciousness and his last breath.
We had a special relationship to say the least.
It wasn’t
just a close friendship and even went beyond the grandparent – grandchild connection
as well.
He played an invaluable and irreplaceable role in my life.
As part of my
grieving process, I would like to pay tribute to him with this blog.
A little bit
about his life:
He was of Greek descent (His Mom and Dad came over fromGreece).
General George Patton.
He owned and operated his own restaurant (The Spot to
Eat)
in downtown East Moline, Illinois for 32 years.
remarried instead pouring his life into his grandchildren.
Church over a period of 50 years.
visitation I asked people what word came to mind
when they thought of my Grandpa.
The
Responses?
Family said: Selfless. Character (In the
funny way). Loyal. Faithful. Giving. Caring. Loving.
Friends, Church and Community Members: Compassionate. Friendly. Kind. Sweetheart. Servant of God. Happy. Considerate. Tenacious. Loving. Jokester.
Workers from his Nursing Home: Caring. Cheerful. Loving. Wise. Quick-Witted. Funny. Talkative.
Loving and Soft Heart.
Whenever I would get sick
he would say he wished he could take the sickness on himself.
And you know what? He meant it.
He literally wanted
to be sick for me so that I didn’t have to go through the pain.
He never spoiled himself.
Everything he had was for his family.
His greatest joy came
from giving to us.
heard the word “NO” come out of his mouth.
He just didn’t have the heart for it – He would do anything
just to see us happy and
doing well.
He was fiercely
loyal to his family and always put us first.
He was a stubborn Greek and pretty
argumentative but always very quick to make up.
God’s word and talking about Jesus.
I’ll forever cherish:
His Stubborness:
He would rail against the duck feeding
ban outlawing the feeding of ducks by the river. Even in his late 80’s he
would consistently threaten to walk
places (even
though he couldn’t walk more then 20 ft. without being exhausted.)Or his threats to hitchhike off to some distant place during an argument.
take me to Mcdonalds and get me
something.
How he picked
me up from school for most of my life growing up and was my personal chauffer to anywhere
I wanted to go as well.
Whenever we were out, all sorts of different people would
approach him for conversation and even if he didn’t remember who they were he would connect and talk with them
effortlessly.
Doing janitor
work with him at Church.
Seeing him in the stands for every one of
my athletic games and
most of my practices as
well.
His quick
wit and great sense of
humor. 
all – praying with him and getting a hug every time before we parted.
absolutely perfect in all of this.
My Grandpa got to see Grandchildren graduate, marry, get jobs and have children.
was ‘ready
to go’.
things:
That He allowed me to
be home during all of this and especially during his last week.
For prayers
and encouragement by the
body of Christ during this time.
The strength
and composure God
provided to be able to officiate his
funeral.
and where that means my Grandpa is at.
all of this.
about the thought of the family
reunion that will go on in the life
to come.
That doesn’t mean my heart doesn’t have
heaviness though
Or that I am sure what life will be like
without my Grandpa George.
void left by his departure.
is good and that I (and my family) still need your prayers.
Oh and
if you want to honor my Grandpa George with me?
Do
something selfless for a family member today.
