March 8, 2010

Reality

Today was a lot harder than I expected. Teaching is a really hard job to come back to.
The kids don’t get it.
All they are concerned about is the raffle they didn’t get to do last week or when their book orders are coming in.
And it's not just the kids.
I love the people I work with, but it's difficult to be around people who did not know Grandpa.
I don't feel like having normal conversations.
I don't want to pretend like nothing happened.

I can't express to people how much Grandpa meant to me.
I feel so emotionless when I tell people what happened.
They probably just assume that I wasn't that close to him.
Nothing could be further from the truth.

Today hit hard for all of us I'm sure.
We all had to go back to work today.
The out of town family has all gone home.
There is no more memorial service planning to keep us busy and occupy our minds.
We all had to face reality.
And Grandma has to face it the worst.
My heart aches for her.
She loved him so much...and he loved her.
They had a truly remarkable marriage.
I will share more about Grandpa in the days and weeks to come.
I am working on writing a remembrance for him to share about how wonderful he was and how I felt about him.

I have lots of stories to share about him.
 I will end on a lighter note with a story about Grandpa that shows his sense of humor.

In 1998, my Grandma Jones died.  She was my grandma's mom.  My grandparents and all 8 of their kids flew back to Pennsylvania to go to the funeral.  They flew my grandparents first class, and the 8 kids were all together on one of the flights in the back of the plane.  Part way through the flight, Grandpa sent the first class stewardess back to hand each of the kids a single peanut.  She was cracking up as she said, "Compliments of the man in first class."  He just loved it that he was living it up in first class while his children were stuck in the back of the plane.


4 comments:

  1. Mindy, I appreciate the way you are honoring your grandpa...I know your heart is hurting, but it makes me smile to know the love you shared. Thank you for continuing to share the stories, too.

    We will continue to pray for all of you.

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  2. i love that story. i can just see him cracking up in first class with that sweet smile on his face. love you!

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  3. actually a better word would be mischievous :) but still sweet

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  4. Definitely mischievous. I know what you mean about work, Mindy. It's not just another day. I can hardly get through it. It's supposed to get easier, but I don't see that happening for quite a while. It's good to have great memories, though. Besides the warm mixed nuts that Grandpa and Grandma got in first class, they got warm chocolate chip cookies after their first class meal. We were wedged in the back of the plane. A sad reason to travel, but many fun moments.

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