In which Emma's long made request to learn to mow the lawn finally happened today! xo
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Friday, October 8, 2021
The Last Letter
On July 6th we received what would be the last piece of correspondence from my grandfather. He sent this via email in response to the pictures I sent to him from July 4th at Old Sturbridge Village. I have to admit, I do kind of wish this had arrived via the post as it would have been lovely to have just one more signature from him, but recieving email from your 101 year old grandfather (or great-grandfather in the case of the girls) is pretty fabulous too!
Today, the family gathered to pay tribute to this pillar of the community of Roselle NJ and honor a life well lived. When we shared with the girls that he had passed we asked them if they wanted to go. You see, they never met him in person. They did see him over Zoom when we celebrated his 100th birthday (the pandemic messed up the party my Aunt Gail was planning for him) but other than that their relationship with him was purely through letters and phone calls and they asked to remember him that way. They didn't want their first time meeting him to be at his funeral. We honored that request as it seemed like a wise and good one. For a brief moment we toyed with me going alone but with the girls now at Parker and no one to get them in the afternoons it wasn't possible for me to attend. I sent our decision (and reasoning) to my Aunt Gail, Uncle Roger, Uncle Dan, Dad, Mom, Grant and Kaitlyn. Everyone was super sweet and understanding (which made us not being there all the more heart wrenching)!
Today, when I went to find his obituary, I came across this post on Facebook that my cousin Rachel had shared on their town page. When I last looked there were 63 comments from people who thought the world of my grandfather! It was quite a sweet discovery and one that I am so glad to have happened upon.
My mother, father, brother and sister were all in attendance for his wake yesterday and funeral today. I have yet to hear all the stories, but the ones I have heard are quite spectacular! Evidently the Mayor attended and spoke during the ceremony. A police escort to the cemetery was given. And the new press box at the high school football field is to be named for him (he was a constant at the high school football games taking pictures and video for decades), There's even talk that a room in the not-yet-built new library will be named for him.
We will miss his letters. We will miss his phone calls. But we are grateful for both. He and I started writing letters almost twenty years ago. In those twenty years I have learned more about my grandfather than I ever knew before and had a stronger connection to him than I did prior. I am grateful that he wrote down so many of his memories and so much family history and entrusted them to me (and later on to Emma and Grace) . I love that he got such a kick out of the girls! His first two great-grandchildren definitely held a very special place in his heart. He was super impressed that they wrote letters (and in cursive too)! While I make it a policy to not have regrets (I have exactly two, one regarding Grace and preschool, and this one that I am about to share) I do regret that we did not visit him, so that he could have had time with the girls in person, too. I do think they had a deeper connection with him than they may have if it was just visits so in the end I think it all worked out the way it was meant to, but still...
I will miss my pen pal (though he did replace me a few years ago with Emma) and I know that Emma misses her pen pal deeply already! One of the first days she was at Parker her advisory was asked to bring in their "most precious thing". Some kids brought stuffed animals or pictures or things like that. Emma brought her great-grandfather's letters. It choked me up then and chokes me up now. Such a sweet and special soul she is.
Rest easy grandpa knowing that you have left behind a strong and wonderful legacy. Not just within our family but within the community of Roselle too. Thank you for the letters, the stories, the phone calls, the emails and the PowerPoint presentations. We will carry these stories and your memories with us and pass them on to the generations to come. xo
Today, the family gathered to pay tribute to this pillar of the community of Roselle NJ and honor a life well lived. When we shared with the girls that he had passed we asked them if they wanted to go. You see, they never met him in person. They did see him over Zoom when we celebrated his 100th birthday (the pandemic messed up the party my Aunt Gail was planning for him) but other than that their relationship with him was purely through letters and phone calls and they asked to remember him that way. They didn't want their first time meeting him to be at his funeral. We honored that request as it seemed like a wise and good one. For a brief moment we toyed with me going alone but with the girls now at Parker and no one to get them in the afternoons it wasn't possible for me to attend. I sent our decision (and reasoning) to my Aunt Gail, Uncle Roger, Uncle Dan, Dad, Mom, Grant and Kaitlyn. Everyone was super sweet and understanding (which made us not being there all the more heart wrenching)!
Today, when I went to find his obituary, I came across this post on Facebook that my cousin Rachel had shared on their town page. When I last looked there were 63 comments from people who thought the world of my grandfather! It was quite a sweet discovery and one that I am so glad to have happened upon.
My mother, father, brother and sister were all in attendance for his wake yesterday and funeral today. I have yet to hear all the stories, but the ones I have heard are quite spectacular! Evidently the Mayor attended and spoke during the ceremony. A police escort to the cemetery was given. And the new press box at the high school football field is to be named for him (he was a constant at the high school football games taking pictures and video for decades), There's even talk that a room in the not-yet-built new library will be named for him.
We will miss his letters. We will miss his phone calls. But we are grateful for both. He and I started writing letters almost twenty years ago. In those twenty years I have learned more about my grandfather than I ever knew before and had a stronger connection to him than I did prior. I am grateful that he wrote down so many of his memories and so much family history and entrusted them to me (and later on to Emma and Grace) . I love that he got such a kick out of the girls! His first two great-grandchildren definitely held a very special place in his heart. He was super impressed that they wrote letters (and in cursive too)! While I make it a policy to not have regrets (I have exactly two, one regarding Grace and preschool, and this one that I am about to share) I do regret that we did not visit him, so that he could have had time with the girls in person, too. I do think they had a deeper connection with him than they may have if it was just visits so in the end I think it all worked out the way it was meant to, but still...
I will miss my pen pal (though he did replace me a few years ago with Emma) and I know that Emma misses her pen pal deeply already! One of the first days she was at Parker her advisory was asked to bring in their "most precious thing". Some kids brought stuffed animals or pictures or things like that. Emma brought her great-grandfather's letters. It choked me up then and chokes me up now. Such a sweet and special soul she is.
Rest easy grandpa knowing that you have left behind a strong and wonderful legacy. Not just within our family but within the community of Roselle too. Thank you for the letters, the stories, the phone calls, the emails and the PowerPoint presentations. We will carry these stories and your memories with us and pass them on to the generations to come. xo
Saturday, February 6, 2021
A Sweet Ending
A perfect winter evening to break in the brand new fire pit, and a perfect excuse for some Reese's s'mores! Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, everyone! xo
Monday, November 4, 2019
Scenes From Show Day
Another prep has come and gone, as has another competition day, but the memories made will last forever! So thankful/grateful/blessed to be part of this amazing team and looking forward to making lots of gains during my off-season and coming back leaner and stronger next fal1! xo
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
A Visit To The Bronx Zoo
Saturday morning we headed to the Bronx Zoo in an attempt to see more of it than we already had. With how large this zoo is it's sure to take a few more visits (or years) before we've seen it all!
Peacocks and peahens.
On safari.
I love how this deer is looking right at us.
Giraffes (my favorite)!
On our way to the Butterfly Garden.
This Peahen went for a stroll with us. Grace named her Pearl.
She stayed with us for a good long while.
Another favorite!
No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the Bug Carousel!
We spent about six hours at the zoo and I didn't take pictures of everything (the Nature Trek at the zoo was really neat and seeing the gorillas totally had me choked up for some reason) I loved the few moments I did capture. It was surpringly not crowded for a Saturday. Or perhaps it was and the zoo is just so large that it didn't feel like it. Either way, I am very grateful that we have a membership and are able to support the extraordinary work that the WCS does! It's a membership that we'll absolutely keep for years to come even though we don't live close enough to go as frequently as we would like to. xo
Saturday, December 29, 2018
{This Moment} Friends And Family
[This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo (or two) -capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Wishing you a lovely last weekend of 2018! xo
Monday, July 2, 2018
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