Last Monday was Dadaw’s last day on earth. He had been slowly deteriorating in the nursing home for the last several years of his life, and now he is finally in a place where he is not suffering anymore. So, although it is sad that he’s not with us anymore, I know he is much better off now. It was difficult to visit him in the nursing home and see him get a little bit worse each time. To me, that part was harder than him actually passing away. Thursday, we celebrated his life with a memorial service. One of his favorite things to do was sing and leading singing at worship services, so we sang several songs and told stories about his life. It was a wonderful tribute to a great Christian man. I was privileged to have the opportunity to put together a slideshow of pictures to be shown during the visitation, and I enjoyed going through many pictures that I’d never seen before. It’s neat to see your grandparents when they were your age…just getting married, having babies, etc. I also had the privilege of speaking at the memorial service. I thought I’d share some of the pictures from the slideshow along with the thoughts I gave at the service. Dadaw was a very special person, and we will miss him until we see him again one day:
“Dadaw was one of a kind. In fact, he is probably the only “Dadaw” there ever was. Thanks to me, he was one of those grandparents that ended up with two nicknames. Sheila and Christy, my cousins, grew up calling him “Granddaddy”, and then I had to come along and mess everything up ;) Somehow after I started talking, in an attempt to call him Granddaddy, out came “Dadaw” instead. Dadaw never seemed to mind his unique name, or maybe he just got used to it after hearing it for the last 28 years or so :)
I’m thankful to have a lot of happy memories with Dadaw over the years. Our family would usually eat lunch at Gran and Dadaw’s house every Sunday after church. I don’t remember a lot about the conversations we had at the table, but I do remember a lot of “Sunday morning quarterbacking” going on between Dadaw and my mom. Apparently, Alabama football must have been pretty pathetic or something in the early 2000s ;) After lunch, Dadaw would always sit in his recliner, and we would sit in the den with him and watch NFL or NASCAR on TV. It’s too bad we can’t watch NASCAR with Dadaw anymore because I think he would get a kick out of my 2 year old, Brooklyn, calling it “nasty cars”.
I also remember Dadaw doing a really great “cat fight” impression when we were growing up. Jenn and I thought that was the funniest thing. He would tug on one of his cheeks, and the resulting noise really did sound a lot like two angry cats doing battle with each other. It was a pretty unique talent. Don’t ask me how he did it, and no, I will not attempt to demonstrate ;)
The most important thing I will remember about Dadaw, though, was his wonderful Christian example. If you knew Dadaw, it was evident how much he loved God and loved his family. He was kind and generous with his time and money, always helping others in need. I hope to have the opportunity to touch as many people in a positive way in my life as Dadaw did during his.
Dadaw spent the last several years of his life bedridden in the nursing home, experiencing a slow decline in health—mentally and physically. I’m not sure why God didn’t call him home sooner, but maybe it was meant to serve as an example to the rest of us. The times that I visited him in the nursing home, Dadaw never seemed to be full of despair; instead, he was filled with joy to see us. I loved to see his face light up when we walked in the room. I believe Dadaw was waiting patiently day after day for his eternal reward. The last years of his life are a testimony to the fact that we can endure even the bleakest circumstances if we are children of God, and we can do it with hope, knowing what is waiting for us at the end of this life.
I am reminded of Isaiah 40:28-31, which says:
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Dadaw may not have had much physical strength during the last years of his life, but I know he is in a place now where he will never grow faint or weary again. I pray that we will all make it our goal to find our strength and hope in the Lord just like Dadaw did, while we look forward to our eternal reward in heaven one day.”
