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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Our family is heartbroken

I haven't blogged in awhile because I've been so heartbroken I just couldn't do it.   

Not yesterday, but last Friday, as I was fixing lunch for my Shug and a friend that was visiting us, a friend we haven't seen in years,  I got a phone call. 
It was Mom and she said she has some bad news.
And peeps, I have a lump in my throat just writing this. 

Remember this picture....from my last post....
From just two weeks ago.....
Well the man that took this picture was who Mom was calling me about.
Greg.
He passed away, unexpectedly, in his sleep.
No..I thought...it couldn't have been him.
We were all just together, celebrating birthdays.
And I was just telling my neighbor ladies about his bucket list. 
How could it be him?  He LIVED life!  He had a bucket list!
 You know, how you just think for a minute....just for a minute, that you want to turn back time.  Not too far back.  Just a week ago.  When you asked him to take that picture.  You wonder why you didn't say, "okay, now let's me and you take a selfie!" 
or "OK now smile....I'll take your picture."
Or how about, "are you feeling OK, you seem quiet tonight."
Because he was always telling a story a two, and that night, he didn't.

You see, Greg came to every birthday celebration, every holiday celebration, and most events he was invited to, if he wasn't on a trip somewhere.  He went to dance recitals, soccer games, and golf matches that his Grandaughter (my niece) played in. 
We were JUST all together. 
How could this happen?

I just wanted to turn back time to say Good Bye.  I don't remember telling him good-bye. 
I just want it to not be true.

This is a picture of him....
The honorable Judge Caldwell.
But I never knew this man.
Here's the man I knew.
WE knew.
At my sisters and her husband's house
(this is her husband's Father by the way, her Father-in-Law)
on Christmas
 At our house one Christmas Eve...
(it didn't matter if we were all at our house or my sister's or our parent's house, he was there)
 After the Easter Egg hunt at our house one year, opening his eggs, celebrating Easter with our family.
You can barely see the plastic necklace on him that he got in an egg!

Dancing with the rest of us to the Oui game on TV.
 Playing a silly game on Thanksgiving and wearing the drumstick headband,
because my Sister said you had to wear the drumstick headband, that she made.
Playing silly games on Christmas Eve

Hanging out with the family at our Independence Day celebration.
Or playing more goofy games on Christmas Eve...

He's the one in the Santa shirt!

  
Making a Christmas Ornament, for the special family tree, one year on Thanksgiving Day because that's what we were doing.
Not watching the game.
(even though the guys wanted to)
And smiling about it.
Always smiling.
 Here he is sitting with Dad in St. Thomas.  Probably telling a story or two.  He was definitely a story teller.
And he could sing.
Oh boy, could he sing.
The first time I heard him sing was when his, then three year old, Grandaughter wanted him to sing karaoke with her on stage when we were all in St. Thomas for a wedding.  So he did.  They sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
But afterwards, peeps, he sang....
"What a Wonderful World"
I always think of him when I hear that song, and I always will.
Yep, we knew the man that could sing.
I didn't know he could also play piano and harmonica, but he could.

We knew he was a judge, because he married my Sister, to his son, all those years ago.  It was their wedding we were celebrating that week. 


And that week, we all became family. 
And those two men in the picture above.  They not only lost a Dad, they lost a buddy.  Because he was also a fisherman, a golfer, and a hunter, which they all did together. 
He was actually with his son's family in Colorado, and him and his son were going Elk hunting the next day.  But it wasn't to be.  He didn't wake up.

  I could show you so many  more pictures, and tell many more stories, but I won't.  If you've followed my blog, from the beginning, you've seen him.  He's always at our Family Gatherings that I'm always showing you.
And perhaps his granddaughter, who is now 13,  said it best...
or my Sister.....


I'll blog again....when I feel like it.  Keep our family in your prayers.  We have his "Celebration of Life" on Monday.  And the man did CELEBRATE LIFE!

Cindy

12 comments:

  1. Cindy, I really feel for you and your family. I know what it's like when someone dies unexpectedly ... it will be 15 years in December since my Mum fell ill, was taken into hospital and died within 24 hours without regaining consciousness ... whilst on holiday abroad. My family is still reeling from that shock in so many ways. Thinking of you all.

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  3. May his soul rest in peace! May God strenghten the family in this difficult period of grief!

    The words written by his grandaughter and by your sister are a fine tribute to his memory.

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  4. Oh, Cindy I am so sorry for you and your family. Sending my hugs to you. It has been a difficult year for you.He sounds like a great man who will be surely missed. HUGS B

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  5. I am so very very sorry Cindy, such a terrible thing to have happened and such an awful shock for you too. I am so glad for you all that your dear friend lived such a great life and was such a great man. Hold him in your heart and carry him on with you. Hugs and love to you and good thoughts and know that I will be thinking of you. xxxx

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  6. Huggs to you, sounds a lovely great man.

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  7. I am sorry Cindy to hear of your families unexpected loss. So glad you have so many memories to take with you and your family.

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  8. Cindy, I am so sorry for all of you. You will be in prayers and thoughts. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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  9. So sorry to hear this sad news. Your post is a lovely tribute. Sending love.
    Helen xox

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  10. Thank you every one for your sweet kind words. It's going to be hard living without him through the holidays. I guess the song he sang at Iggy's with my niece was believed to be the itsy Bitsy Spider, not Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! Either way, either song, it won't be the same without him.

    Cindy Bee

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Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment on my blog. I enjoy reading them. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Cindy