Family

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My Grandpa Ernie just recently passed away and we went to was his memorial service yesterday. The one thing that was repeatedly said about him was that he was always positive, always kind and very generous. And that's how I remember him, too. When we were little kids, we'd spend lots of time with him and his wife Fay at their house, having family dinners and playing red light green light in their yard. Grandpa always would pull quarters out of our ears or his and give them to us--then we'd run down to the store and buy candy. I heard the stories of how Grandpa shared his knowledge of cars and motorcycles with the boys in the family and thought how wonderful that was that he passed along those things to the boys.

In his time of sickness, Grandpa turned to the Lord and I am forever grateful for that. I only wish he could have known the joy of serving the Lord here, but he will get to know Jesus in heaven.

One really wonderful thing about yesterday was having so much of the family gathered together in one place. My sister flew in from Florida and all my brothers were there. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. Even all of my kids were there. Many of the people I love in the world were in one place and that was a real treat. Times like these just make you realize how special and important your family is. We had a lot of fun reminiscing with the cousins, telling all our goofy, childhood stories. Being back where I grew up and seeing the familiar faces of family was so heartwarming and rich.


Grandpa Ernie
My brother Johnny, me, my mom, my sister Lori and my brother Bobby :)

The gangs all here... From the left-top row: my daughter Savannah, grandson Evan, me, my son Schuyler, my daughter Sophie, my daughter Jenessa (mom of Evan and Emma).
bottom row: my daughter Amanda, granddaughter Emma, my niece Heather.




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