Our PawPaw

We are grieving the death of our boys' PawPaw, Zack's dad and best man at our wedding, and my father in law.  As I'm typing this, I'm having a hard time finding the words to say to articulate how we are feeling.  This is the first parent we have had to say goodbye to and the first grandparent for our boys.  PawPaw loved these boys immensely.  For me, it was evident at one of our last visits with him.  PawPaw was in the hospital due to a heart attack and with his dementia, he was confused about his environment and wanting to go home.  I brought the boys to the hospital to see him and he lit up as soon as they walked in.  You could tell that even if he might not remember their names every time we visit anymore, he knew he loved them deeply.  I snapped some pictures as the boys rushed over to give him hugs unprompted.  The boys didn't see that PawPaw was sick.  They just wanted to hug their grandparent.  Wayne was always so kind and loving to me as his daughter in law.  He encouraged Zack and you could tell he was incredibly proud of the man his son had become.  I believe Wayne's favorite title was being a PawPaw.  The boys would love playing pool or ping pong with him in the game room at their home.  He would laugh and chuckle as the boys would do something unpredictable and these boys always kept PawPaw on his toes.  Thanks to Granny V and PawPaw, these boys have been incredibly spoiled growing up.  With the yummy food, the hospitality when coming to their home or striving to buy them the top items on their wish lists, these boys know how blessed they are to have PawPaw and Granny V.  Zack is wanting to keep this information private at this time, just sharing the information with close friends and family members.  I think he gets his private nature from his dad.  Zack is a man of few words which I believe he inherited that trait from his father as well.  As I'm typing this, Zack is on his way back home to be with his siblings and Granny V as they make arrangements for later this week for us to come together and properly say goodbye to our PawPaw.  He will be missed immensely in the coming days, weeks and years.  We continue to hold onto the hope that we will see him again one day and be reunited as a family.  We celebrate that his body is no longer in pain and his memory has been restored to God's perfect design for him.  We love you PawPaw and miss you already!

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.- Psalms 119:114