We’re throwing back to one year ago today. Last year on Valentine’s Day, Eric’s Grandfather passed away early in the morning. To us, it was unexpected and untimely. We knew he was in and out of the hospital but never expected that this wonderful man would leave us so soon.

Unfortunately, I do not remember my Grandfather on my mom’s side. He passed away when I was a toddler. My “Pap-Pap” on my dad’s side passed away when I was 10 years old. I do have memories of him. I remember being very sad when he died and death was confusing to me. Eric’s “Opa” on his dad’s side passed away when Eric was younger, so I never had a chance to meet him, though I very much would have liked to have had that opportunity.

I loved Eric’s Grandpa Keith just like he was my own flesh and blood. He was very accepting and always smiling, especially when his family was surrounding him. He was a soft spoken man, from what I recall. He loved to talk about his past, his travels and his family. On one specific occasion, we sat on the couch together at his house, flipping through a scrapbook of his and Eric’s Grandmother’s travels. I felt honored that he would sit and take the time to look through it with me and relive those happy times. Another thing I will never forget about him is how “carefully” he opened his Christmas gifts. We would always exchange grins with each other at the amount of time it took him to unwrap those gifts. =)

Eric and I had the opportunity to attend an NIU Huskies football game with Grandpa Keith a couple of years ago. It was fun for me to see him in “his” environment. He was so comfortable there and loved cheering on his team.

…And the part that tears me up the most is when I think about how he just lit up when Hailey was in his presence. I’m just so happy that he had a chance to get to know his first great-granddaughter during her first year. Although, I ache at the fact that he didn’t have the chance to see her grow up. I do know that she would have just adored her Great Grandpa Keith. We spend each Christmas with Eric’s mom’s family and unfortunately, it just didn’t work out that Christmas of 2006. It hurts that we didn’t get to spend that one last holiday with him.

So, today is a day that we will be thinking about Grandpa Keith and all of our loved ones who have passed away. I’m sure we’ll smile a lot thinking about all of the fun memories. If you’re reading this post, on this Valentine’s Day, I just ask that you take a minute to think about those that you love and let them know because you just never know when you won’t have the chance to say it again.

These two songs always made me think of my dad, who is also deceased. Be prepared to tear up, if you’re like me anyway. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to cheery blog posts soon.

mp3: Radio’s in Heaven – Plain White T’s
mp3: Hear You Me – Jimmy Eat World