Life and Death

  We got a new additions to the family this month with the birth of Chloe Grace!  Congratulation Amy and Michael she is beautiful I cant wait to meet her.  

We also said good bye to Papa Del this month.  His health hasn't been good for a long time but really took a turn for the worse this month.  He was placed on hospice and passed away on Wed Sept 21st.  While we morn the loss of such a wonderful man, we rejoice that he is no longer in pain and that he is in heaven now.  

Here is the Eulogy I read at the funeral:

I want to speak for a few moments about the man that my sisters and I were so fortunate to get to call Papa Del.  Unfortunately our children didn't really get a chance to know the Papa Del that my sisters and I remember from our childhood.  Luckily though there are many stories and memories to be told about him.

Some of my fondest memories are of Papa Del; Captain of the Boat named “the Lois Marie”, and how he and Grandma would take us 3 girls on overnight boat trips to Carlyle lake, he would pull us all on inter-tubes all over Carlyle lake turn after turn until we were all tired out.

 I’ll tell them about the time when as a very little girl I was interviewing Pap Del and when I asked him if he had a nickname for Grandma Lois he answered that he called her “Sassy Britches”.   

 We will all remember him leading us on yard tours to see what the latest blooms were that week in his immaculate garden.  (I added this part about watering after the funeral, thought of it too late but like the memory) Sally and I made some good money watering Papa’s plants for him when they would go their long overseas trips.  He would have us over before hand and go through a 4 page list of how to care for the plants.  It included what to water everyday and specifically how much to each type of plant, what to water every other day, what to do if it didn’t rain, what to do if it did rain.  When we would get done going over the whole list then he would lead us inside and we start all over again with the indoor house plant instructions.

Annie more than Sally or I will remember his word problems he would have ready when we came to visit, that usually included a fox, chickens, a boat, and a limited amount of trips to get all the animals safely across a river. 

We will all remember when we were little wondering our way through the old maze like Free Methodist Church and often running into him getting ready to teach his Sunday School Class or seeing him and Grandma across the aisle in church.

 I will show my boys coins, foreign coins that he would pick up for my coin collection on one of his many trips overseas to with Grandma Lois in retirement.

One memory that I know they will enjoy hearing about because when I was a small girl I enjoyed hearing about is the time Grandma Cindy (fairly newly married to Papa Rex at the time) at a family dinner shook up a bottle of ketchup to use and accidentally squirted it all over Papa Del….and what a good sport he was about it. 

My sisters and I are blessed to have had such a wonderful Grandpa and to have been able to spend lots of wonderful quality time with He and Grandma growing up.  Although Papa Del is no longer with us the memories of him will live on for generations to come.

These guys were great for a long weekend with visitation and the funeral.