The End of an Era

LawyerBoy's grandfather passed away this past week. His funeral was today in St. Louis and they buried him next to Grandmama - his wife of over sixty years. (She died when Prep was a little over one. BrownBear hadn't even been born yet, but she swears she knows her. I'm not sure how things work in heaven and before you are born, but if BrownBear thinks she knows Grandmama, then I'm sure she does.) Now think about this, people. His grandfather - my children's great grandfather- was 101 years old. We tried to be sad, but Granddad had a great run.

When he was born, Teddy Roosevelt was still President. Wrap yourselves around that. When World War I started, he was in the 4th grade. (I'm guessing here, people.) He was born in a sod house his parents built on land they acquired in the Oklahoma land rush. Land we still own, thankyouverymuch.

When he died, he had outlasted the phone company, seen air travel take off, and driven every kind of Ford imaginable. He had seen the war to end all wars, the second World War, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the first Iraqi war, and the second Iraqi war. He saw 9/11 and wondered if his grandson was one of those people in the towers. And yet he never lost his faith in Christ and led countless to salvation.

He worked his way through school, married his college sweetheart, had a family, became a minister and wore a hat all his life. He was a role model for countless people, including my husband, my brother-in-law, my father-in-law and my children. He was a gentleman and a scholar. And yet that didn't preclude him from getting on the floor with Prep and playing "Pretty, Pretty Princess."

He was pretty sharp until the end. At his 100th birthday party, LawyerBoy was making small talk and BrownBear came up. "Here's BrownBear," LawyerBoy said. "She's in the fifth grade."

"LawyerBoy," Granddad said, "BrownBear is in the sixth grade, isn't she?" Priceless.

We'll miss him, but I think he's a lot happier where he is right now.