A first for me

I've been very lucky in the fact that I've never had to deal with anyone close passing away. My grandpa on my mom's side passed away when I was 1, so it didn't affect me. Last night, my other grandpa passed away in his sleep. He had been in pretty bad shape for the past year or so, and he was in his 80's, so it wasn't unexpected. Since this is a first for me, I really have no idea what to expect. I don't feel sad, I feel almost that it was time and my grandpa had "graduated" from life and has moved on. I'm sure my dad feels differently, and I wish I were back in Milwaukee to be around him. I take comfort in the fact that tomorrow he will fly out to LA and join the early arrival family members. I also take comfort in the fact that we have 17 family members who will be there mid next week for the funeral.

This just reminds me how wonderful it was that we were able to all gather last Christmas. I even went back and read my blog entries from that time... what a gift to have those! One thing I didn't mention was my sister had compiled a DVD of all the old family pictures and videos she could find, set to music... as black and white pictures of each aunt, uncle, dad, and mom came up, the present day version of each person raised their hand and cheered. The highlight of the video was the clip of the goofy uncle (every family has one) who, after a canoeing trip, mooned the camera. It brought down the house. I'm not sure if my sister had meant for it to happen, but that video basically could have been entitled "Grandpa, this is your life!"