Jan 29 - Feb 2

 Since I think very chronologically, I'm going to go back to the week Grandad passed away day by day. Most of you were either living these days with me in person or via text or messenger. 

Saturday, Jan 29. After Dad called me at 7:30am, I came downstairs and sat on the couch. The couch is now in a spot where I have a direct view out the sliding door (which I love). I just sat and watched the snow fall. I told each of the children  that Great Grandad was with Jesus as they woke up. There was too much snow on Saturday for us to gather with the family. It was a quiet day overall. Jeremy and I finished the last bit of painting in the addition. That felt really good.

Sunday, Jan 30. I went to Mom and Dad's house alone. A couple of my sisters were there. We sat in Grandad's apartment. The emptiness settled in. I took my computer because I was pretty sure I would be organizing pictures for a slideshow. I gathered up a few more responsibilities and ultimately sat down beside Janell with an obituary template and started writing. I wasn't expecting to write the obituary and I didn't know that I was capable of writing it, but when I started it just kept on...and I think it turned out pretty well.

Monday, Jan 31. The children went with me to Mom and Dad's house. I sat in on the meeting at the funeral home to make arrangements. That was an educational experience in cost and logistics. Mom and us girls then went to the florist and picked out flowers for the casket. I did some grief buying and bought Aliza and Anna Simply Southern shirts. Mid afternoon I brought the boys back to our house and I took Anna and Aliza to the store because they needed dresses for the funeral. Thankfully, we were successful at one store after trying on a handful of dresses.

Wednesday, Feb 2. My aunt and uncle arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday was the day to finalize funeral plans and start the process of sorting and packing in earnest. I dropped off the slideshow to the funeral home. We ordered all the food from Chick Fil A for the lunch following the funeral. After Gramma passed away 4 years ago, Grandad chose to keep the house the way it was. We did not sort through any of Gramma's things in the house so this week was a lot about Gramma too. Mom and LeeAnne started with laying all the linens on the bed to sort through.

Josiah went out to the shop where Grandad's office is with Dad and Jay. They found all kinds of treasures in Grandad's desk including his flight log where he listed all of his flying time when he flew a Piper Cub.

Meanwhile, inside the house, we discovered that Gramma had a large collection of pins/brooches. Many of them we had never seen, while a few we did remember her wearing. They were all laid out on a table for others to see and, ultimately, take the ones we wanted.

 

I had planned for Wednesday evening to be a time for me while Jeremy took the children to youth group and club but that was not meant to be. When it was time to leave, Josiah was face down on the soft sobbing so he stayed home with me. He sat close to me and talked and talked. We spent the evening together. He didn't stop talking and I quickly realized that I didn't actually need that evening for myself at all!