Remembering

One year ago, today, a really wonderful man died. My Grandpa. He died on June 22 of last year, but last year June 22 was the Monday after Father's Day, and today, though it's just the 21st, is the Monday after Father's Day, and so, this is the day I remember him dying... I was across the country, in Colorado, when I got the call that early morn. I was so devastated, so broken, but I wasn't surprised and I had hope. Hope that my dear Grandpa was with Jesus. Hope that my dear Grandpa was reunited with Grandma. Hope that my dear Grandpa was meeting all my babies I've never met... Hope. It is a powerful word. It is a powerful Truth. And so, though I am still sad over my Grandpa's death, and still miss him intensely, I do not despair, but I do hope!

I must say though, even with hope, I still grieve. Grief is a funny thing. It's like a winding path that you're not sure where the turns will lead and what will be around the next bend. Sometimes joy, sometimes sorrow, but as long as you keep walking the road of grief, joy is bound to find you.

Not long before my Grandpa died I received the last email I'd ever get from him. Now, there is something you must know, after my Grandpa's second wife died the summer before he did, Grandpa got a computer and learned how to use the internet and check our blogs and email. The thing is, I don't think he really understood The Email, because I never once got a personal email from him, only forwards. I would see his name in my inbox and smile, knowing he'd sent on some silly forward. I'd delete the forward and smile again. Well, the last email, the last forward, that Grandpa sent my way, for the life of me I cannot delete it. It is the last thing I have that his life touched. He put my address on the email and hit send. I've never even opened it, but I cannot delete it. Every time I log in and see that I have one new message, I know it's his and I think of him and smile. Maybe someday I can let go of that, but not today. And, if your curious, the subject line of this forward reads, "FW: How to tell the sex of a fly." :) If that doesn't make you smile I don't know what will!!!

I wrote this post to commemorate my Grandpa, Riley Russell, last year. Please take a chance to click over and read it today.

So, one year has passed. My Mom and aunts have no parents left on this earth. The house my Grandpa built and all the girls grew up in, has been sold. We've celebrated the Holidays without him. Life has marched on. But, the memory of Grandpa and Grandma, for that matter, remains. I still can smell his smell, feel her touch, hear their voices, see their house. These are treasures that are safely tucked away in my heart and mind, and they will remain until the day I see my Grandparents again. For this I am thankful.

Love you Grandpa!