Year One

Yesterday marked the one year point of Papa being with the big man upstairs. I know he is loving it, and just enjoying being in God's presence. But we all miss him down here. The day started with a text from my Daddy to pray for my mom, Dan, Katie, & mostly Mama. I had already started doing that, but I love that he cared enough to remind me (that shows how tight knit our family is). It still feels like it was just yesterday that I got the phone call from my Mom. I woke up at 6 am and had 2 missed calls from my Mom at about 3 am. I knew something was up. I also knew my Dad was flying to Italy that night, so I just knew it was either Papa or my Dad. Either thought was scary. And I remember just crying when she told me what happened. Thankfully Matt had spent the night at Kevin and Scott's, so he was only 2 doors away. He came right over and just sat with me. It was very surreal. I tried to remember the last time I had talked to Papa, I think it was when I called to tell him that we were engaged. He was so happy for us. The day continued with Mike announcing his engagement to Sarah. Such a bittersweet day. He had already laid his plans, and family members were where they needed to be, but it was still hard to do. I know Papa is happy that Sarah got to join our family too, though. Like Emily said, no one can replace Papa, but many wonderful things have happened since then.

It was weird at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all three weddings that Papa was not there. I wanted him to see me walk down the aisle, and yet, he was not there. But what was also weird, was how semi-normal the holidays and events seemed too. Like Thanksgiving did not seem much different, until we hit a part of the day that had something which Papa always did. Like he always did the dishes with Uncle Warren, and it was weird that he was not there for that. And he always say next to Mike at the table, but he was not there this year. I was reflecting upon this yesterday. How much has happened since that day that he has missed out on. Three weddings, Alex, Jessica, & Josh all starting new schools. And me starting a new school too. And it is just weird that he is not around.

Mama, if you read this (which maybe you do if Dan prints it out for you). I am praying for you and I love you. You and Papa have both been such inspirations to both Matthew and I. Each time we talk about finances, we remember Papa and how he handled his finances. In one of my classes there is a guy who works with Teen Challenge, every time he talks about it, I think about those guys and how much they loved Papa. And how much he loved them too.

I do not know what else to say, except my Papa was an inspiration to us all. He was an inspiration to all of the people who came to the funeral, who could not even fit in the room. May his legacy of finding strength and power in Christ live on through us all. We love you Papa.

And yesterday,others in the family were feeling nostalgic too. But what's interesting is we each had a different thing to say:
Emily
Davis
Alex