Saying Goodbye

On July 16 my Grandpa Reeves passed away. As a family we were not expecting this. He had been in fairly good health. My grandpa was the rock of our family. He was always there to support all of us. He loved to plan family reunions because he loved seeing us all together. Last year we all went to Branson, MO...the year before that they all came out to Colorado so we didn't have to travel with the twins. This year we were suppose to meet in Southern Illinois at Giant City State Park and stay in some cabins grandpa had scoped out over a year ago. His life ended two weeks before our reunion. Grandpa went in for surgery on a mass they found on his colon. It was not an easy recovery and his body let go. Some solace that I have is that my mom and a number of her brothers were there with him on his last day.

We all headed to Southern Illinois a week earlier than planned for Grandpa's funeral. It was heartwarming to see the amount of people who attended the visitation and funeral. My grandpa was born, raised, lived and worked in Murphysboro. I met many people who shared such amazing stories. One man came because my grandpa had coached him in basketball over 40 years ago...that says a lot about how he touched so many. We also learned that grandpa earned a Purple Heart in World War 2...something he kept to himself. The day of the funeral was a difficult day but what we saw after the burial is something we can all hold onto. This cloud floated above the cemetary-

It made us all realize that we were going to be ok and that grandpa was looking out for us. He is now in a better place with the love of his life, Grandma. It still doesn't seem real. I have a picture on our fridge of our reunion in Colorado 2 years ago. He is sitting in a chair surrounded by family with a big grin on his face. He was happy...pure and simple. He loved his family, his friends and his life. Miss you Grandpa!!