Grandpa Carl

My grandpa passed away today. It was a little bit sudden but it was for the best because he was in a lot of pain in the end. I have been so lucky to have my grandpa be a part of my life and to have had a good relationship for as long as I've lived. I was so blessed to have 2 kids who have met him and loved him. I've been reminiscing a lot about the memories I have of my grandpa and I just wanted to write them down for personal history. Excuse the scattered writing, but I'm just writing as I remember so it's a smathering of mems.

*My grandpa and my grandma would travel all

over the country in their RV to visit us and they would stay for months and plan outings and do all sorts of fun things with us. He would drive us hours away to go camping in the RV and go to amusement parks. He would always be the one to take Sarah (my sister) on all the little kiddie rides while my mom was stuck on the big roller coasters with me. Then we'd all go back to the RV and Grandma would have dinner ready for us.

*My grandpa was a Navy Seal (before they were even called Seals) and he was the one who taught me how to swim. I remember the anchor tattoo on his forearm from his Navy days. It was faded and old, but I loved it because it reminded me of him.

*I'll never forget his sneeze. It was the loudest, scariest sneeze you'd ever heard. Anyone would jump in their seat when they heard it. It always made me laugh.

*They owned a summer house in Florida and the home my mom grew up in in Michigan and we would normally visit Michigan in the summer. I have such great memories of their home in Michigan. During those summers we would go to the Bing Cherry Festival in Traverse City. We would pick apples, blueberries, and raspberries at the local patches. We would go to the Cider Mill to drink fresh cider. He would take us to our very favorite place in the world: Cook's Dairy Farm. They had the best ice cream of all time and we would get to see all the cows that produced the goods. My grandpa was the biggest ice cream fan and I'm sure that's where I got my love for the treat.

*He worked for Ford as a test driver for 30 years and would take me practicing before I got my license. He was a lot more patient than my dad and wouldn't freak out like my mom. I enjoyed our lessons.

*My sophomore year in high school our cheerleading squad was going to Hawaii and my family couldn't afford for me to go. I was the only cheerleader on the squad not going and I was heartbroken but I understood. The last day our money was due for the trip my mom called me into her room and said that my Grandpa wanted to pay for me to go. He knew how important it was for me and just couldn't stand the thought of me not being able to experience that. I will never forget his ridiculous generosity. He was the best Grandpa a girl could ask for.

*When I was getting married in Salt Lake, he drove his little Ford Tempo from Florida to Utah just to see me walk out of the temple. He wasn't able to go in but he knew how important it was for me to be married there and wouldn't miss it. On that same trip he even hiked up the Timpanogos Caves at age 76. That's an impressive feat to me.

Even though we never lived close and didn't talk a whole lot, I knew his character and that made me proud to be his granddaughter and made me want to emulate that character. Growing up I only had one Grandpa but I was lucky enough to have such a great one who was well worth more than 2. I loved him so much. I'm just so glad we were able to cultivate a lasting bond that I know didn't end when his life did. I love you so much Grandpa.