My Grandpa

As you can see from the post below, Marc and I have spent the past week in Lethbridge and surrounding area. The reason for our trip was to attend my Grandpa's funeral. While the reason for our visit was sad, we had a wonderful time with both our families and everyone loved doting on Ty.

My Grandpa passed away quite suddenly on May 7 after getting a blood infection. He had been living in Lethbridge close to my mom for the past two years and was so excited to meet his new "G baby" Tyrn. Here is part of what I said at his funeral . . .

The Grandpa that Brad, Lanny, Timmy, Sam, Sarah and I grew up with was gregarious, exuberant, outgoing and full of life. He loved to BBQ, cross country ski, take long walks with his dog Misty after large turkey dinners, play jazz on the piano while my Grandma tap danced and most importantly watch HNIC in Canada on Saturday nights with a fire in the basement. All of these activities were made more exciting and fun while doing them with his Grandchildren.

With me when I was a baby

Building a fence with my brother Brad, an experience that Brad spoke eloquently about at his funeral

At my highschool grad

I had the most fun Grandpa out of all of my friends - a Grandpa who surprized me to take me out for lunch on my 16th birthday, one who decided I was taking much too long showers when I was a teenager and turned the hot water tank off on me, causing me to scream and jump out of the shower while he laughed uproariously in the background, a Grandpa who laughed and joked with my friends and played the piano for them when they were over. And of course showed his never ending love for my Grandma in the way he teased her, loved to be around her, treated her with respect and lifted her "num nums". :)

I have great memories of spending summers at Sylvan Lake with my grandparents and my grandpa tanning, tanning and more tanning. He loved the sun and spending time out in it with his grandchildren.

Giving my Grandpa a facial which he loved so much

Watching my grandpa become depressed over the past 15 years was difficult but he still was able to hold the same type of conversations, joke around occasionally with us and loved talking about hockey and when he would get G babies. His third G baby was born on March 17 and although he never got to hold Ty, he still got to meet him on skype. We enjoyed our Sunday talks with Grandpa looking at the camera and inquiring about Ty. Tyrn recently started losing the hair on the top of his head, giving him what I called the Grandpa look. Grandpa was quite concerned with his lack of hair and commented on it often. On one of our last conversations, mom was looking at the camera asking, "What do you think Tyrn?" Grandpa replied back, "I know what I think, that kid needs some hair!"
I grew up with the best Grandpa anyone could ever ask for and will always remember his wonderful smile, sparkling eyes and loving attitude. Grandpa hated to say goodbye and instead would say "So Long." So . . . So Long Grandpa, I will miss you always.