Saying Goodbye

Tony's grandfather passed away last Friday. While this was expected, it was still very sad. He had struggled with brain cancer for 14 months and did pretty well for most of that time. On Monday night we made the trip up to Michigan so that we could say goodbye on Tuesday. It was a wonderful funeral, with lots of fond memories and a good amount of laughter. Grandpa Hayden never minded being the butt of jokes (although it's debatable how much of any given joke he heard) as long as there was laughter. I'll miss his big heart and his open expressions of joy and wonder at what his grandchildren accomplished in the world. I don't think that I'll miss hearing the details of bumper styling for the 1936 truck he was restoring, but you never really know. He welcomed me into the family from the first time he met me and I never felt like anything besides a grandkid who had stumbled into the fold a little later in life than most of the others.