Grandpa's Funeral

When trying to think of memories of my Grandpa, I thought of things that I could always tell were important to him - things my Grandpa loved.

My parents lived in the Seattle area, so it was always a special treat to get a visit from my grandpa. He regularly visited us, and I was so excited for his visits that I was even happy to give up my room as the guest room for him. As I got a little older, I realized that Grandpa was coming to Seattle to go to the furniture market. He loved his work, and he loved working hard. This was obvious to me even as a little child - Grandpa worked hard and was proud of his work. As I grew up some more, I realized how unusual it was for a man to enjoy his work so much that he didn't retire until the age of 82. This example means a lot to me because I want to find something that I enjoy working at, that I can take pride in doing, and that I will love as much as my Grandpa loved his work so that I don't ever want to give it up.

When our family expanded beyond the capacity of our first little house in Washington, my Mom and Dad spent a lot of time searching for a new home. We kids were aware of how hard this search was because it went on for months. Finally we moved into a great house, but definitely a fixer-upper. There was a lot of work to be done, but this new house was spacious enough for me to finally have my own room! I remember that Grandpa showed up to help out, and he was amazing! He loved working with his hands, and making something out of nothing. My Mom says this probably comes from growing up on a farm and working and living in the depression years to make do with what they had. I think it was also a talent. While visiting our new house, Grandpa built storage under the back deck, and then he built an entire cold food storage room in the garage and then huge amounts of shelving in the garage along the walls. Those shelves are sturdy today, and they might even survive the rest of the house eventually.

Grandpa loved sports. In all of the phone calls we had with Grandma and Grandpa as kids, Grandpa asked how our teams were doing, what position we were playing, and how our last game went. He knew all about all of his grandchildren's athletic endeavors, and even though my family wasn't exactly star athlete material, he was still proud of us! I also remember that Grandpa especially loved watching the BYU Cougars. Sometimes, while visiting us, he would just disappear. We could always find him downstairs, searching for "that BYU game". I remember watching TV with Grandpa, and especially learning from a young age to cheer for the Cougars.

Grandpa loved his friends and neighbors. He always seemed to have the attitude of "I have been blessed, so I want to share my blessings with others." When I was driving home from college one summer, I stopped for a day to visit Grandpa. He was happy to see me, and he made me promise to wait for him to get home before I left the next morning. I was curious, so I agreed. When I woke up the next morning, I packed everything into the car, and hung out around the house for a while. Grandpa pulled in with his truck, and he hauled out a huge black plastic bag full of corn. It turns out that Grandpa had a favorite little stand he would go to where he would buy a bunch of corn and then share it out with all his friends, especially those who couldn't go out and go shopping on their own.

Grandpa loved his family. He always kept track of what each one of us was doing, and he was so proud of us. In college, I had the chance to work in a research lab on campus, where we worked on a project for NASA. Grandpa was so proud that he told everybody that his granddaughter was going to the moon! Every phone call for three years, Grandpa asked "have they sent you to the moon yet?" I remember when Grandma was no longer able to send out the birthday cards like she always had. Every year, around my birthday, I still got an envelope from Grandma and Grandpa. In that envelope, on a little piece of paper from a notepad (one year it was on an ACE Pulley Systems notepad) was my birthday note. It usually said something like "Julie, I hope you have a happy birthday. We love you. Grandma and Grandpa." One year he added "Ain't this card purtty?"

Of all of his family, and all the people in his life, Grandpa loved my grandma. With a pat on her bum, or a kiss on her cheek, he always told her he loved her. I remember Grandpa visited Grandma every day that he could when she was put into a care facility. He even figured out how to get the kitchen to give him a little ice cream that he could bring to her after dinner every day.

I remember that Grandpa loved prayer. It wasn't ever a casual prayer - Grandpa bowed his head with humility and gratitude and prayed sincerely with deep thought at meals and in family prayers, and I bet in his personal prayers too. Before my Dad's funeral, Grandpa gave a very tender family prayer for us. Afterwards we found out how much Grandpa had been thinking and pondering what he wanted to say, because we found a note card where he had written his thoughts for that prayer. In all of his prayers, I remember Grandpa being grateful for everything he had. Above their kitchen table, my Grandma and Grandpa had hung a picture of a humble man, bowing his head in gratitude over his simple loaf of bread. This picture reminds me of my grandpa in prayer because he showed gratitude to the Lord when his circumstances were humble or great. In remembrance of Grandpa's prayers, the grandchildren sang "Because I Have Been Given Much" at his funeral.