Wednesday, February 06, 2008

First year gone by...

It seems like so much time has passed and then at the same time it seems like it was yesterday that I received the phone call from my Dad. "He's gone, Karen." This day a year ago was a sad day for our family. My grandfather's battle with cancer ended and in the same second he was present with our Almighty God. I ponder what that moment was like for him, knowing I won't know fully till I arrive there myself. It was sad telling my little man, who was just shy of 3 then...it was still sad praying and talking with him tonight as we both cried and remembered how much Pepaw loved him. Oh, boy, was I ever grateful for those trips that we took to see him...Boo...his only great grandson. Pepaw certainly loved that little man. I asked Boo if he would tell his little brother about his Pepaw...he agreed he would.
The pain isn't there any longer, but the memories and the loss still grow. From experience I know the loss will get less difficult as the years pass and I pray the memories grow by leaps and bounds.
God proved Himself faithful through those days leading up to his memorial service. It was a beautiful ceremony, with family and baseball friends speaking about what kind of man and baseball player he was. The video tribute was incredible! I just watched it and I still love all the pictures that were chosen for it.
It's probably a hard day for my family still, so at this time I pray for God's all-surpassing peace to overwhelm them all. God's perfect plan is still in order and effect and we need to continue to turn to Him during the rough patches that still lie ahead.

If you would like to read my tribute to him, please read My Grandfather.
Love,
Karen

1 comment:

PrayerMom said...

This was a touching story for me. Thank you for sharing your memories of your grandfather.

I'm glad that he got the opportunity to play in the pros. My dad was the home run king for his local team, but only thought about trying out for the minor leagues. The normal lineup had his younger brother just ahead of him so that he could get on second, and they'd have at least two runs on the play.

I don't think there were any baseball references at his funeral, but his God-given knack with horses did make it into the eulogy. I'd told the pastor the story of how Dad had gotten into the stall with a colt that was a handful for my friend, who had just started her career training horses. He loved Dad, though, of course. The pastor drew an analogy about how Christ had stepped into death to bring peace to the experience for us, so that we could go on to greater things rather than come to an unceremonious end. I'm glad that your grandfather entered that door knowing Christ who dispels the fear from that passage.