Five Years Ago

Five years ago yesterday, he was still here.

Five years ago today, we lost him.

Five years ago, we had to say goodbye.

Five years......really?

It seems like last week.

The boy and I took flowers.

And sat and talked to Grand-Papa.

And wished he was here to see the many things he has missed.

His first great-grandchild.

A dance at my wedding.

His own children.

His loving wife.

My heart breaks as I listen to one of the songs played at his memorial...."Dance With My Father" by Kellie Coffee. If you haven't heard it, go find it and listen to it.

And tell me it doesn't MOVE you.

It moves me.

And today, there was a little angel playing with Grand-Papa.

And the light shining down tells me.....he knew. He was smiling.

An Overdue Visit

So our new house, in our same city, but different zip code (love ya CG), is right around the corner from the cemetery where my Grandfather is buried. And to make the experience more pleasant, there is a good variety of wild life at the cemetery.

First up, we stopped to see the caribou. This is how I plan to explain to Carter that Santa IS real. He clearly keeps some of his reindeer here in Idaho for safekeeping! ;-) Shhhh.....keep my secret, mmmm kay?

As you can tell from my shadow (sheesh....I hate when that happens), I took the liberty of staying AWAY from the beast, while Eric got up close and personal with Carter.
The picture below best describes how Carter felt about the caribou.

He wanted NOTHING to do with the adults, but he did love the little babies.

Then we moved on to the pond where all the birds were hanging out. We had a good variety of geese, ducks, swan, and other birds that I cannot identify because I'm not current on my NatGeo, folks.

This family of geese? Super cute.....but they got mean. Well, I should say....the MAMA got mean. You will see later what I'm talkin' about.

So we focused on the nicer birds who appreciated our bread. The swans were just gorgeous and dang they swim fast!! Much faster than the ducks.

It was about that time that this same family of geese.....or the mama.....decided that we were just a tad too close for comfort to her babies. And the hissing began. Did y'all know they hiss? And CHARGE at you? Let me tell ya....I grabbed up MY baby and headed for the car. I wasn't sticking around to be attacked by a dang bird.

I finally skirted my way around the pond, away from the vicious mama, to get some pictures of these weird looking birds. I have no clue what they are....some sort of duck, maybe?

And these birds too.....I haven't the slightest clue what they are. But they sure honked really loud!! We must have been close to their eggs.

We finally made it over to see my Grandfather. I tried to sit Carter down to introduce them and tell him about his Great-Papa, but he wouldn't sit still.

But we did take some flowers from our yard to freshen the place up and I got a chance to say hello. I'm hoping to get back there on a more regular basis now that we live so close.

It's been five years, Grandpa, and I sure still miss you.