I wasn't planning on writing a eulogy for my dad this week.....but my pop died at home unexpectedly on the morning of November 23rd.
While he wasn't in the best of health, we thought he was gonna stick around for a few years, but I suppose God had other plans for him.
He was a lot of things to a lot of people, he proudly served in the US Navy for 6 years, he was a wonderful husband to my mom, he was a good father to me, a great grandfather, he loved being involved with church, he was an active member of the local Lions Club, he loved animals, anything Disney and most importantly........when I was a kid-he helped me deliver my Sunday paper route when it was cold and rainy.
I almost think he enjoyed having me wake him up 5AM on rainy Sundays to help me deliver my route....we'd deliver the papers and then go to the donut shop, order coffee and donuts and shoot the breeze for an hour.
In recent years, we would meet at a local restaurant on Saturday mornings and do much the same.
When I was growing up, my folks didn't have a lot of money, but they always had money for books, I passed my love of reading down to our children and for that- I have my dad to thank.
Out of all his accomplishments, the thing he was most proud of was his grandkids ...Katie and Daniel. My dad struggled in school when he was a kid, and he loved the fact that both of his grandchildren are excellent students....our daughter is finishing up her Masters next year and our son is in his senior year of high school with plans to attend college next fall.
Will we miss my dad?
Oh yeah, he is leaving a huge hole in all our hearts...he wasn't much for public displays of affection....you might even say he came off as a tough guy sometimes. Inside however- he was a softie, and we all knew that underneath that tough exterior- if you were his friend, you had a friend for life-he had your back.
My dad lived life on his terms and lived and died exactly the way he wanted to die, he wasn't afraid of death, only afraid of a lingering death....thankfully the Lord took him in a matter of moments. He was 73 when he died....and well, I'm not sure how anyone could pack more into 73 years then he did.
If he was still here to tell you, he'd say he ticked off just about everything on his bucket list with the exception of riding on a Harley and seeing his grandkids graduate from college. That's something that he's gonna have to do from Heaven..at least he'll have good seats.
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