Happy Birthday, Grandpa Lee...

I realized last month, when the anniversary of my own grandmother's passing came and went, that I didn't so much want "one more day" with my loved ones who had died anymore. Apparently I'm an all or nothing kind of girl! I couldn't stand having to say good-bye AGAIN!! Now I'm a little more content with "memories"! Luckily for our family, we have MANY, WONDERFUL memories of Grandpa Lee! Today would be his 66th birthday! Our family went to a buffet breakfast/lunch yesterday, in his honor (One of Grandpa's favorite restaurants). Of course nothing is the same as it would be to have him here with us, but it is nice to be able to keep his memory alive in our family and do fun little things like this with the kids.



When we got home yesterday (Veteran's Day, no work - no school) we got a few odds and ends done around the house. We actually hung our first, official picture on the wall! Yes, we've been here 5 1/2 months - no, we didn't have anything hung on the wall until last night! It's amazing how "homey" photos, prints, paintings and other artsy/fartsy (sorry, that was one of my grandma's sayings) things make a home! The very first picture we hung was the picture/collage I made (with enormous help from a few online friends) of Grandpa Lee for Brandon's Christmas gift last year! We slid the frame up and down on the wall trying to decide the most perfect place to put it - and finally Brandon said, "Right here, this is where I can look right into his eyes." Well, *sniff* there just isn't much you say after that!



There isn't much we wouldn't give to have Grandpa back! Of course we know that he's always near by and we know we'll see him again - but the wait sucks (sorry,that's one of my sayings). I miss him like I would my own dad. I can't even put in to words how much Brandon misses his father. My children talk about grandpa a lot and we sometimes cry together still. We want them to know that it's ok to be sad - heaven knows I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face - I can hardly expect more from my children. We are blessed to be part of Grandpa's family!



Clicking this text will open the video that we made for Grandpa's birthday a couple of years ago.