Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Grandpa

My grandpa went to be with Jesus on Wednesday morning February 15th.  When I think of him I think of a man of God, a gospel preacher, Grandma's partner, my momma's daddy, father of six, grandfather of 19, loving leader, family letters, Sunday-best clothes, family meals, croquet in Mississippi, Laura Ingles Wilder, old hymns, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  One of the good parts of mourning the loss of a family member is reflecting on all of the good memories.  Here is a picture with my grandparents from a couple of years ago.

The kids and I already had a winter trip planned for Arkansas and were leaving Rochester that Wednesday afternoon. It was such a blessing to be there with the family - my aunts, uncles, cousins and most of all my mother and grandmother.  When I got the news of Grandpa's death, the thing I wanted most was to be able to put my arms around my mom and my grandma.  I have heartache that I won't see Grandpa again, that his life here is over, and that my children will never really know him.  But I think my greater heartache is for my grandma and my mom as I think about the difficulty of saying goodbye to a husband and to a dad.  

I have been thinking of the last time that I was with Grandpa.  It was this past September and the kids and I drove to Searcy with my mom to visit him in the nursing home.  It was a short visit and I can hardly remember what was said.  We talked briefly.  I held his hand for a moment when I hugged him and said it was good to see him.  I can't remember if I told him I loved him.

Liam wanted to look at Grandpa's body in the casket and he asked if he could touch him.  He reached out and touched Grandpa's hand and I thought of that last time I was with him, touching his hand.  In the casket, his face didn't look the same but his hands were like I've always remembered them.  I think I will always remember his hands.  

If I had known that day in September that I wouldn't see Grandpa again this is what I think I would have said:
Grandpa, I have always been proud to say that I am part of the Lewis family.  Many times I have said, "My grandpa is Claude Lewis."  And I will keep saying it!  I just want you to know that I attribute a large part of the foundation of my faith to you and the leader you are for this family.  Thank you for your faithfulness - to the Lord and to Grandma.  The covenant that you have kept with Grandma has been passed on to your children and now to me.  And that picture of marriage is such a precious gift.  As a little girl, I always thought you were rich.  And I still think you are rich.  I have a picture of you in my mind praying at the head of the table, "Father, we thank thee..." with your family around you and one of Grandma's meals on the table.  You have had life's richest blessings and I know the promise of even greater riches in heaven.    I love you so much.

One of Grandpa's favorite hymns was "My God and I".  The grandchildren sang it at the the close of the funeral:

My God and I go in the field together
We walk and talk as good friends should and do
We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter
My God and I walk through the meadow’s hue
We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter
My God and I walk through the meadow’s hue

He tells me of the years that went before me
When heavenly plans were made for me to be
When all was but a dream of dim reflection
To come to life, earth's verdant glory see
When all was but a dream of dim reflection
To come to life, earth's verdant glory see

My God and I will go for aye together
We'll walk and talk just as good friends do
This earth will pass, and with it common trifles
But God and I will go unendingly
This earth will pass, and with it common trifles
But God and I will go unendingly

Many emotions as I have written this post...

Bowling

Bowling is our new fun family activity.  It's half fun and half torture.  Hilarious to watch Liam run with full force as he rockets his bowling ball at lightening speed down the lane to somehow pull off a spare.  Torture to let Hayden bowl by herself (which she insists upon) and watch as the ball creeps at a painful pace towards maybe one pin.  We took everyone for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  We are sure to return for more torturous fun.

 Totally pumped to see a real bowling ally - the Wii come to life
 Hayden striking a pose as Will bowls with perfect form in the background.
 Wait for it....wait for it....wait for it
 Lightening McQueen
 Harper cheering everyone on
 Hayden finally let Will help her
 Everytime she bowled she would turn around and throw her arms around Will.  Too cute.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Top 10

In honor of the love month...
My husband's top 10 most romantic moves:
(in no particular order)

Let me preface this by saying that Will and I started dating in highschool when he was 15 and I was 16 so some of this came out of a beautiful budding highschool romance. :)

10. He went on summer vacation to Destin, FL with his family and searched all week for sand dollars on the beach so he could bring me home a basketful of sand dollars.

9. He knows that I love the chocolate/banana combination so for Valentine's Day he made me (not bought) chocolate covered bananas.  He was so proud of the work he had put into making those.  You can't fully appreciate it unless you saw them with your own eyes.  I don't think he thought to cut them up and and then dip them.  They were whole bananas on sticks dipped in chocolate.  So stinkin' hilarious.  And very thoughtful.

8.  He quit biting his nails in highschool because I thought it was gross.  He bites them again now.  I guess he knows I'm not going anywhere.

7.  One year for Christmas he set up a scavenger hunt for me all over my house (This was in highschool so he had put everything together and then given it to my mom to set up).  The final clue sent me outside to my 86 Maxima where he had zebra seat covers that I had been dying to get.  Remember, highschool.  I loved those seat covers...

6.  We broke up after highschool and stayed apart for most of the first semester of college.  He learned to play guitar in college to woo me back.  That's why I think he learned to play anyway.
somewhere in Europe after engagement

5.  Marriage proposal in Prague, Czech Republic.  We had been studying overseas in Greece all summer and then at the end we back-packed for 3 weeks.  Half-way through back-packing he busts out a diamond ring that he had been carrying around in a sock in the bottom of his back-pack!  I had no clue.  We had never even looked at rings!

4.  He gave me a Bible with my new name on it on our honeymoon.

3.  For one of my birthdays in medical school he had taken me out on a date, and when we got home there were candles lit everywhere and one of my favorite desserts (creme brulee) on the table.  He had gotten his brother to help him set everything up while we were out.

2.  For our 5th anniversary we took a two day trip to Disney World.  He was already going to be in Florida for a residency interview so I went with him.  The first night at Disney he had planned a hot date - steak dinner and Cirque du Soleil.  Afterwards at the hotel, I discovered rose petals strewn all over the room and in a heart shape on the bed.  It was such a Bachelor move.  It was supposed to get me in the mood but it gave me the giggles.


1. And I've got to give him props because even with the killer job he has, he's still bustin' out some romantic moves.  We went to the Brad Paisley concert in St. Paul three weeks ago to celebrate our 8th anniversary.  The concert was amazing and when we got back to the hotel there was wine and chocolate-covered strawberries waiting in the room.

at the concert
I hope you haven't read this and gagged all the way through.  Fun to think back on all the history we've had together.  And he doesn't get bragged on enough so this should cover it for a while.

Five years of dating, 8 years of marriage, 2 bachelors degrees, 3 kids, 3 cities, 7 years and counting of medical school/training and still keeping the love alive!!  Praise God!  I pray for His protection over our marriage and our love for each other in the years to come.