In Memory

My dad loved his coffee, his guns and his Pepsi. Every morning you would see him with a hot cup of Maxwell House  french vanilla coffee and a bowl of frosted mini wheats. His favorite coffee stand was Hucklebearies in Aberdeen or Dutch bros when out traveling. He could pull into line at Hucklebearies and by the time he got to the window his drink was ready because they knew his order because he always got the same thing. He refused to drink anything other than regular Pepsi or water if the restaurant only carried coke products.  

As a child when I woke up I often found my parents setting in the living room drinking coffee and reading their bibles.

 With every trip we made to Spokane he would go to White Elephant to look at guns. He and his dad and the boys would spend a few hours at the store and rarely if ever came back empty handed. 

Another memory I have is going out on the boat with my dad and uncle Terry. We would water ski and float the inner tube off the back of the boat and spend the days eating snacks on the water. After boating all day we always went to what we all called Matt's ice cream shop for ice cream cones because they had the best soft-serve cones. 

He loved to help people and would drop everything he was doing to come watch his grandkids or come to help when there was an issue with something around the house that needed fixing. Frequently dad would show up at our home with his lawnmower and even though we all knew he would leave with pain in his back he insisted on doing it anyways. Every church function or family gathering he was setting up tables, taking care of trash, holding his grandbabies and anything that would help keep the gathering afloat. 

When around the grandkids he would lay them in the crook of his neck and rock back and forth repeatedly saying grandpa's here, grandpa's got you, walking through the house until they would fall asleep in his arms. We have many photos of dad and the grandbabies both passed out together on the couches and chairs. 

In the last 7 years there was a great change in my dad for the better. He grew in spirit and he was becoming more close to God and drawing nearer to his family like I've never seen before. He never left my house without saying I love you and he always held and hugged the kids for several minutes before it was officially time to go. The kids would ask grandpa if they could have a hug and his response was frequently "I will always give you loves". 

Despite the fact that we had some rough years together I enjoyed watching the relationship that developed between the kids and their grandparents.