I have had a tough week. I am trying to get back into the swing of things since being off last week do to the death of my Pappa. I have frequent bouts of crying and sadness. That makes things tough. I have days were I barely smile and one day where I hardly spoke a word. VERY UNLIKE ME! I have been thinking alot about him. He was such a quiet man. He made no big shows of faith but his life showed his faith. Never one to stand up and give a testimony his life was his testimony. It is witnessed by the number of people who showed up at his funeral and the things that they said about him. He was a true example of what it means to be Christ like and the definition given to us in the bible of how to love. He was slow to anger. I barely remember a time when I saw my grandfather angry. I believe I saw it one time and even then he never threw things around or said a bad word about anyone. He just talked of the injustice of the situation and what he would do. He was long suffering. He loved being surrounded by family. He never was too busy to help us with something or to just get down on the floor and play with us. He taught me how to tie my shoes and ride a bike and blow a bubble with bubble gum. He was always patient. He never said a cross word and took as much time as was needed to teach me these things. He was kind. He would give you the shirt off of his back and you never even had to ask. He would do it before you asked. He was always there with his hanky if you had allergies or were sick. He never expected thanks and sometimes didn't get any. He would come up and shake my hand and turn and leave and in my hand would be 20 dollars. He called it walking around money. He never asked if I needed it never let anyone know he was giving it to me. Just quietly put it in my hand and walked away. When he passed last week my grandma gave a few things of his away. She gave my cousin his pocket knife. Dave some of his hats. I only wanted one thing and it is all I will ever want. I was prepared to ask her for it but I didn't have to. She already had me one picked out. It was Pappa's hanky. I guess I always needed one of Pappa's hankies because I always had bad allergies and they always had a cat in the house. So hankies and Diamatap were two things always kept on hand for me. She handed me his hanky and inside there was a little something extra in it. Which I didn't find right away, all I cared about was the hanky. My last bit of walkin around money from Pappa.

I miss him so much. Especially during WVU football games. He was a huge fan. He loved them so much and I would always call when they showed a game down here that I could watch and ask how he thought they were doing.  I would call and if they were not doing well Mamma would answer and say yes I know Pappa has been yelling at the TV for the whole game.

At his funeral they played a song that Pappa said was his and Mamma's song. He played it for my mom a couple of years back and told her that was their song. She said it was beautiful but to never play it again because it was too sad. It sounds just like things he would say and the voice almost sounds like him when he sang. It is a blue grass song by the Cox Family and Allison Kraus. If you ever get the chance to hear it listen to it carefully. It is called On The Farside Banks of Jordan.

Here is a little bit of the Chorus and it will let you know how I imagine my Grandfather when I think of him now.

" I'll be waiting on the far side banks of Jordan. I'll be waiting drawing pictures in the sand. And when I see you coming I will rise up with a shout and come running through the shallow waters reaching for your hand."

I am blessed to have had such a wonderful example of what it meant to be like Christ. I know he is sitting at Jesus feet and will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. But I still miss him so.