Through Grandpa's eyes

I think we are all feeling extra sentimental right now, as Lu is so sick in the hospital. Last night Mitch told me that Karen was staying the night at the hospital because Lu was not doing well. I got up and looked at the pictures that he sent me from our few days in Medford, in October. They took on a new meaning for me, as we know how he felt then and how he feels now. I just imagined what he was thinking as he took the pictures of the kids - wishing he were able to play and interact more. Life is good, but can be so hard. To think that you do not know how long you will be able to see your family. (though none of us have this answer) I don't think any of us thought he would be as sick as he is now, just 3 weeks after these pictures. 

Lu, we pray God's will be done in your life! We are all praying for you and Karen; that God is with you in your decisions and that your time together may be sweet. You have stood strong for so many years. I am not sure any of us have even a glimpse of what you are, and have been, really feeling. While we can tell you do not feel well, you remain positive and steadfast. To see you so sick in the hospital brought about new emotions for me. I got to sit with you in your room for a couple hours on Saturday, and am very thankful for that time. We do not want to see you suffer and yet do not want to let you go!

You are a great father-in-law, dad and grandpa! Always loyal and eager to help! Mitch and I have many fond memories of you helping with projects! Lots of hours spent on 76 NE Buffalo! Working into the wee hours of the morning, completing the finishing touches on the support for the retaining wall. (The night of Carson's 2nd birthday party) Putting together our walk-in closet last summer. Thankfully, I think we dodged the "project" bullet this summer, so nothing major real recently. However, you are always an engineer, and we often turned to you to answer our questions! Just this August you created a pcp pipe "extender" to hook to the hose so you could help Mitch clean the gutters on your house :) We knew who to ask if we needed a thorough evaluation of a product or an in-depth analysis of a project, as you would research all the angles for us!

The Lord has used you, especially in this battle with cancer, to touch many lives! Your courage is admirable! We love you and are forever blessed by your legacy! 

May we enjoy the pictures that you took just a few weeks ago...

 We arrived in Medford on Thursday, just in time to enjoy a yummy meal from Mimi!

Lu, you weren't feeling too well at the beginning of the morning, so after the face painting, I asked if I could borrow the camera for a bit (hoping not to drop it and break it again!).

 Oh my! Those are hot tamales on that cookie and not jelly beans! :)

You started to feel a bit better, asked for your camera back, and were able to walk around taking pictures of the kids! Yay!

 I have just looked and looked at these next 2 pictures! You were standing next to me and so excited about catching their big smiles and waves, while they road the ponies!

 What a great day we all had!

 Just love the picture below! You can see you do not feel too well, but Paislee can't tell!

On a Paislee note...she continues to talk to me, multiple times the past 2 days, about being sick, dieing, and seeing Jesus. She has been the most vocal of the kids, since seeing Grandpa in the hospital. She will say, "baby die? baby see Jesus? baby no sick? baby new body? Grandpa sick? Mimi no sick." (The baby she is referring to is Liam, Tim and Ronya's great nephew who was born at 28 weeks and past away a couple days later) When I get her up she always asks about Mitch - daddy at work? daddy aseep? :) The past couple days it has been about the baby and seeing Jesus - at the table, in the car, through out the day! These topics are hard for us all! We pray for God's will, for healing, and praise the Lord that we will get to see our loved ones again!