Grandpa and Grandma

This happens to be my favorite photo of my grandfather (the one on the right that is). He turns 88 in a couple of weeks. I'm sure he looks back at the 88 years and wonder where the time went. These photos were taken at my grandmother's funeral in 2006. I have a hard time believing that she has been gone that long. I love these pics because even as you can see the sadness in his eyes, there is a smile on his face. I don't know what it is like to spend your lifetime with your spouse and lose her after 65 years of marriage. 65 years, that is absolutely phenomenal. Grandpa got married again this past May. I told Michael the other day that it must be so weird to have a lifetime of memories with someone, and then having someone with you that wasn't part of those memories. I remember the taste of Cherrios and Grandma's cinnamon rolls. Those two flavors together, I don't think I will ever forget that. I remembered that again yesterday as I was eating my Grape Nuts with a cinnamon roll. Similar flavor, but not quite the same. Don't get me wrong, I like that combination too, it's just that the first brings those good memories of Grandpa and Grandma's house in the summertime. We used to travel to Iowa at least once a summer if not more often, and every time we arrived, Grandma was ready with the rolls. The perfect combination of sweet and lemon, um, nothing tops that. I can see the 1970's decor now, but man, those were the days. Grandpa used to spend his days working in his wood shop, which back in the day, was my parents home for awhile. Even now, most likely, you will find him tinkering in a wood shop somewhere. He has some amazing talent. About 9 years ago, Michael and I were living in Denver at the time, I was thinking of Grandpa and how great he was at working with wood. The thought I had was this, "I would love to have a piece of furniture made by my grandfather, but I don't know that that would ever happen because I am sure it would be very expensive." The next day, we got a letter in the mail from my parents with a photo of a china hutch/secretary desk and a note that said, this is yours when Grandpa gets it finished. I couldn't even believe it. Of course I started crying. You know, I didn't even vocalize a prayer in that regard. Just a thought. Some would call that a coincidence, I say, such a cool hand of God.

I think that I am writing about this stuff because today has been a tough day and it is easy for me to forget about the goodness of God on a tough day. But it brings me such encouragement again to remember the former things. The ways that God has provided for us. The way He has cared for us. I need to be reminded of the goodness of God.

One final thought about my grandparents. Several years ago, we had a family gathering at my aunt and uncle's house. At one point in the weekend, Grandpa stood up with tears in his eyes and said, "You know, mom and I pray for this family every day. I believe that God has had his hand of protection on this family because we spend time praying for this family. . ."

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma!