PapPap

PapPap

My PapPap (Grandpa) passed away last night. He was 85 years old and would have celebrated his 64th wedding anniversary in just a few weeks. He was a true environmentalist and a wonderful man. I had a special conversation with him recently. He told me that he was ready to go to heaven and prepare the way for Waverly & Oliver. He can make and fix anything, so he said he was going to build wagons and swings for the kids to enjoy. Such a beautiful image.

Here is PapPap and Waverly (she is giving him a kiss). He loved the kids so much.

Comments

heidi said…

You're in my thoughts.

March 24, 2011 at 8:43 AM

Anonymous said…

That is so warming to know that he said that he would be there for your kids.

March 24, 2011 at 9:40 AM

The Fischer Family said…

I'm so sorry to hear about your PapPap. You will be in my prayers! Thinking of him there to welcome Waverly and Oliver home one day is so beautiful! God rest his soul!

March 24, 2011 at 11:06 AM

Pamela said…

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss :( But what sweet words from him about preparing for Waverly and Oliver...it must make a very difficult topic just a little bit easier to think about.

March 28, 2011 at 11:00 PM

Jenkins said…

What a precious picture and precious words he shared with you...such a beautiful thought.

March 29, 2011 at 4:13 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.