Grandpa Baze

Thanksgiving this year was different than any other.  I always knew the day would come but never expected it to arrive.  My grandpa has been in my life for 35 years.  I grew up one block away from my grandparents house and for my entire life my grandparents were...just always there.

In all the years I have been around my grandpa I have to say I can't remember one bad memory of him.  All my memories glow with happiness and goodness.  I can only remember that he always had compliments to give, funny stories to tell and you could always sense he hoped the best for you. 

Growing up we spent every single Christmas Eve I can remember at my grandparents house.  As kids we had it made.  We had a lot of cousins around the same age to play with and we had a ball together.  Looking back at pictures brings back some of the best memories as a kid enjoying the magic of Christmas at my Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Getting together every year as a family was a tradition that to this day in my mid thirties I hold dear.  My grandpa instilled some great family values in my life and I feel blessed to have grown up with such a great example.  I feel even more blessed that my own two kids were able to have a relationship with him too.

His funeral was really hard.  It was so hard to actually see his body and know this was the last time I would see his body on earth. This was goodbye until we meet again in Heaven.  That is a hard goodbye when you are the one left on earth.  You have this deep ache knowing you can't just give him one more hug or tell him one more time that you love him.  It is a bittersweet sadness.  Sad because you can't see him but happy that you will again.  It makes me grateful for all the holidays, birthday parties, graduations, weddings, celebrations and memories shared because now that I can't make more memories at least I have many to choose from to help me remember. 

Another reason I love pictures.  They hold on to memories for you.  "Treasured moments come and go every day but photos help to keep them in our minds when we are old and gray."