A Great Grandpa...

We extended our Independence Day travels to head south and bid farewell to Ryan’s Grandpa Clement. 

Grandpa passed peacefully in his home surrounded by several of his children and his loving wife.  It was time and he was ready, but no matter how “ready” you think you are, the day that marks the end of a life is shocking and painful.

We know that Grandpa is happy and whole and waiting patiently in the Heavens for his friend and companion.  That knowledge of the great plan of happiness is so comforting and we know we’ll see Grandpa again.

Ryan was writing down memories of his Grandpa the other day and he talked a lot about how he worked with Grandpa at the cabin checking fence and falling trees and how he was impressed that Grandpa could fix or build anything and was always working.  He also remembered sitting on the couch with Grandpa and having a silly little prepubescent “man to man talk” about their preferences for blondes and red-heads respectively. 

When I talked to Ryan the night of Grandpa’s passing we both concluded that Grandpa was like gravity.  He was a grounding force that was never caught up in haughty words, idle behavior, or life’s status and the world’s obsession with “stuff”.  He was light on words and deep on character and completely unflappable.  And if you sense that the world’s gravitational force has shifted ever so slightly, it’s because one who was the salt of the earth has moved on. 

We love and miss you, Grandpa.  Thanks for showing our RyGar how to be a great husband & dad and for being a phenomenal patriarch in our family tree.