Legacy

My Papaw passed away two weeks ago yesterday.  He was a good man.  A kind man.  A positive man, who always knew how to look on the bright side.  He embraced life, had the best smile and loved to dance.  He was always just a phone call away if I ever needed any advice, or just wanted to chat.  That's a good feeling.  He loved his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with all his heart.

He may have taken his last breath on earth on July 15th, but like Pastor Jerry said, "he took his next breath in heaven."  I love to think of it that way.

This is how he will be remembered.  Big smile, even in hard times.  

This was a few months ago when we visited him in a rehabilitation place.  He had to work really hard after coming down with the flu, but he fought his way back to being able to feed himself and walk again on his own.

He was remembered well at his memorial service at our church.  Our friends and lots of family came to honor him.  We sang How Great Thou Art to begin the service, then my Uncle Doug gave the eulogy--bringing tears to everyone's eyes.  Jared read some scripture,  Jerry delivered a powerful message and then we watched the slide show.  The service concluded with Madison singing the first verse of Amazing Grace and then everyone else joining in to sing the rest together.  Such a touching moment and one I will never forget.

After the service was over, we all went back to my parents' house.  It helped lift everyone's spirits that the cousins were able to spend the afternoon together.  Kalen and his little brother Kole live in Glen Rose and Joel lives on South Padre Island, so this was a treasured, rare occasion.

The big girls were all about loving on sweet Kole.  He is such a precious little boy!
They played with him in the house...

and in the water.  Pretty sure everyone was super happy with this arrangement!

Jackson was thrilled to have two boy cousins to hang out with.

By mid-afternoon, there were already talks of hanging out again down in South Padre.
Who likes that idea?  

We do!

I'm pretty sure these boys could have played catch all day long, but all good things 
must come to an end.

We said goodbye to Doug and his family, along with my mom's cousins, and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan.  It was a tough day, but having our family there for support was a really nice thing.
We are blessed.  No doubt about it.