Monday, February 7, 2011

Your Great GrandPapa



January was not an easy month for any of us. I wanted to write something heartfelt about your Great Grandpa but only managed to put up a few pictures of the two of you together. I have been struggling with the right words for the last three weeks and I realized today that no words, none that I know, will ever be enough to describe how much your Great Grandpa meant to me. There are very few people in life that can maintain the level of composure and grace that Papa had…..he was the coolest person I have ever met. Some of my earliest memories are spending time on his shoulders as we walked along the path to the beach in Hawaii or through the snow lined trail behind the condo in Incline. He was always smiling and if he ever had a bad day it never affected his ability to make you feel like everything was going to be just fine. When you were with him you felt safe, loved and lucky. He made everyone around him feel comfortable and important. As I got older our relationship matured he became someone I looked to for advice and guidance. Harper your “GGP” was quite the business man. He ran everything from farms to golf courses and car dealerships. Everyone he worked with respected and loved him. After he passed we threw a party in his honor and people that worked with and for him came out to pay their respects. Everyone had something wonderful to say about him and the kind of person he was. As you get older you’ll see that it’s pretty rare for people to say nice things about their boss. Harper you didn’t realize it at the time but you helped us all so much through this difficult period. Whenever the sadness was too much to bear for any of us, we just held, touched, or looked at you. You were the perfect angel throughout the entire party and the only thing, other than some rather funny stories about your GGP, that put a smile on peoples face. You were a constant reminder that life goes on which is exactly what your GGP would have wanted. The last night you saw him we made him dinner after the chaos of Christmas, and you sat on his lap the entire time your mother and I ran around the kitchen.  He wasn’t feeling very good that night but you never would have known it, because just like him you have a way to make people feel like everything is going to be just fine. He loved you very much and all though you didn’t get to spend a great deal of time with him I could tell that you loved him very much too.
           
           


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