Funny Friday - Family Edition

As promised, here are two funny stories for your viewing pleasure. One is a bit of a throwback, and the other was a phone call earlier this week. Enjoy!

My Sister, the Pyromaniac

My family has this long-running joke about Sister J being a pyromaniac, or "pyro" for those of you who abbrieve :) The origin of this endearing nickname is a story from long, long ago. I don't think any of my sisters were in double-digits, but we were certainly old enough to help set the table for dinner.

My mom always has a pretty centerpiece on the table - usually flowers or a plant - and on this occasion, the flowers were flanked by two tall candles. For some reason, my pyro sister wanted to light the candles for a romantic dinner...with the entire family. I'm actually not sure why she wanted the candles lit, but Mom humored her and told her how to strike the match and light the candles without burning herself.

**Note: Sister J is now a mature young lady with a healthy respect and admiration for candles, matches, and flames in general. She also has a clean record. End note.

J probably used three or four matches to actually create a flame, so she was a bit flustered. Mom offered to help, but J was determined to accomplish this feat on her own. After lighting a match, however, the candles were stubbornly not lighting. I think the wick had wax on it or something; anyway, it took another couple matches to light the darn things. Finally, success! The candles were lit, and the ambiance was set.

Mission accomplished, J blew out the match. Without turning her head. So the candle she had just struggled to light was now blown out also.

Sister J learned a valuable lesson that night. What that lesson is, I don't know. I personally leave the pyro to the pyromaniac of the fam.

Grandpa & Greek Yogurt

Earlier this week I called my grandparents {you know, the ones who live in the Frozen Tundra} and was talking to Grandpa. To refresh your memory, this is the grandpa who told me "Grammie won't go fishing with me anymore...I made her be the anchor one time, and now she won't go with me!" That Grandpa.

Me: Grandpa, tell Grammie that I'm still enjoying Noosa yogurt!
Grandpa: She just had to throw one out the other day.
Me: Uh oh. What for?
Grandpa: It expired before she got to it.
Me: Well, why didn't you help her eat it?
Grandpa: I don't care for that stuff.
Me: I guess if this is the first one that she's had to throw out, that's not too bad.
Grandpa: Yeah, she's been eating it since you lived with us, but I don't think she looks any more Greek.

And that, friends, is Funny Friday. Enjoy your weekend!

In Loving Memory...

Yesterday was my grandpa's "celebration of life" service. I wish the pictures were on my work computer so I could share some with you, but that will have to wait for another time. Tonight I'd just like to process it all out.

The day started with a yummy breakfast feast from Mums. Our cousins from over the mountains had come over Friday night and spent the night on our air mattress so they could attend the service. My aunt came to the house and drove Grandma to the church. We picked up Sister E from MCs. Sister J got a haircut. We were all running around the house getting dressed and borrowing jewelry and curling each other's hair, and you know how it is with sisters- we love getting dressed up together! It's fun to "get beautiful" together, although sometimes you just want to have the bathroom to yourself for just ten seconds! But really, it's fun. But there was this dimension of solemnity also, that we weren't getting dressed up to go out on the town; we were getting dressed up because we were going to be speaking at a funeral, basically. We were getting dressed up because my grandpa is in Heaven.

I'm so, so grateful that I get to see Grandpa again. There's no way to describe the peace that is within me, and that's good, because Jesus promised us peace that surpasses understanding, and He has been so faithful to provide that. What I'm describing here is just the atmosphere as we were getting ready. There was excitement, some laughter and teasing, and some grief because we miss Grandpa, but also peace, because he is in a much better place and we don't wish him back to earth. It was just different, and it was good.

We got all ready and then we drove to the church. It's only 10 minutes away, if you hit all 3 red lights. Seriously. So we get there, and our dear family friend Laurie has organized lunch for the family, a lot of whom were already there. It was weird to see these people, mainly because we hadn't seen them for at least 5 years. Thankfully, I knew most of their faces from the slideshow I had put together, and since Grandma had identified them to me for the slideshow, my sisters made me go first and say hello. What a good older sister I am. :)

After lunch, my sisters and I snuck into an empty part of the church to practice our speech. We were doing it all at once, popcorn-style, and we wanted to work on our transitions. I think we were all nervous, because we laughed more than we spoke. Somehow we got through it and were able to join the rest of the family and start welcoming guests.

Up to this point, it seemed very surreal. People would come in, hug us, ask how we were doing, and give their regards or say something sweet, and we would respond with "thank you" and "glad you came" and things like that, and then I would think, this is what people say when they've lost someone...I am the person who has lost someone... and it felt very strange.

It was not until we were sitting in the front row of the sanctuary and the pastor started speaking about Grandpa that it really, truly hit me, and I think it hit my sisters too, because all of a sudden there was a pile of used tissues between E and me, and there was more sniffing down the row.

My grandma wrote a letter of sorts, and my mom read it for her. Thankfully I had heard it before, so I was prepared and could make eye contact with Mom as she read. It was so well done, and I'm glad that people could have that understanding of Grandpa's life before the rest of the people spoke.

My dad was next, and this part was surreal again, because my brain couldn't reconcile the fact that my grandpa had died, which meant my dad had lost his dad. I cannot imagine losing my dad, so I think there was still shock or denial going on inside me while Dad spoke. But he spoke so well, and he made people laugh and cry, which is good at Life Celebrations.

My cousin spoke about Grandpa's generosity, which is funny because that was one of the themes my sisters and I found when we were preparing our speech. When it was our turn, we were all composed and doing good, and it all went smoothly except when J started to speak about how Grandpa made everyone feel special and was so giving to everyone...she cried, and she did it gracefully, and I think it brought reality to everyone, because my sisters and I are used to public speaking, so we were all prepared and composed and it was almost easy to forget that we were doing this because Grandpa was gone from us, but her tears reminded everyone that we are all grieving and that even while we shared funny stories or great memories, it hurts! It hurts like hell, and it was a miracle that we all got through it so composedly.

After we shared, most of my tears dried up. There were a few shed when Grandpa's best friend Roy shared and he had to wipe his eyes, and then when we ended with Matt Redmon's song "10,000 Reasons" because this song now has three teary times associated with it. But anyway, the service was completely beautiful and wonderful, and people were so nice, and we came home with literally bags of food that we will have to freeze because there is so much!

I shared my funny Grandpa story on Friday, and now I want to share the story that Sister P shared.
We were at Sunrise for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, and we asked Grandpa "Do you want water or juice to drink?"
He replied, "Water is for bathing and putting out fires. I want juice!"
The best part of this story is that Grandpa never drank water even before Alzheimer's. He always preferred milk or cocoa or juice, but never water. Too funny, especially considering my love for water...obviously not from that side of the family!

Anyway, the service was great, and my family talked about it and prayed together afterwards, and we recognized that this was some good closure and our hearts are healing and we've had time to grieve and we're doing good. I'm so grateful that everything went smoothly and that there were laughs as wells as tears, and that Jesus was honored through my grandpa's life. That's the point, after all.

Um, yeah…hi.

Ei yi yi. Sorry about the Funny Friday fail. Haha, I just continued my own alliteration. Ok sorry, moving on.
Ok, so like I said previously, lots of things have changed around here and life is busy and crazy and isn't all life? It’s just the adjustment period of getting used to living in a new place and working with other people’s schedules and things like that. Gotta add blogging into the ol’ routine.

So I interviewed for a job on Friday and then another one on Tuesday. They’re for Saturday receptionist positions, which I’m thinking will simply help expedite the buying-a-house-like-a-grown-up process. Woot. The one I interviewed for Tuesday is not going to work- I already emailed the gal and told her thanks but no thanks, so we’ll see if I hear from yonder Friday interviewer today.

Also, hello! Babysitting jobs galore! I signed up for a couple of websites and applied for less than 20 jobs, and BOOM! People email me back! Apparently babysitting for 10 kids at a time makes for pretty decent experience, right, AJ? ;) The answer is yes, for those who don’t know.

Moving on from my weekend habits…

My grandpa’s memorial is this Saturday. Mom helped Grandma narrow the oodles and oodles of pictures down to less than 200. I kid you not. Mom and I went to the store and scanned 173 pictures for the slideshow. So we put those pictures into PowerPoint last night, and today I've sized and cropped and labeled them. Tomorrow I’ll sit down with Grandma and have her identify the people that I can’t. We’ll add music and then we’ll be good to go on Saturday.

My sisters and I are going to share our memories of Grandpa together. We've written down quite a few memories, and then we organized them and determined who is going to share which one, and when J comes home from college on Friday, we’ll run through it and time ourselves. There are several other people speaking, so we need to be timely. I’m sure we’ll do fine, though, since we have so much public speaking experience.

So that’s basically been the extent of life right now: work, work, and the memorial. I will do my utmost to post Funny Friday’s tale this week, but just in case, here is something funny that I’m going to share on Saturday.

Grandpa and I were in the car while Grandma went into the store. A bald gentleman walked in front of the car.
Grandpa: Well, I bet his haircuts are cheap!

Enjoy your week!

That Antsy Stage

It’s the antsy time. You know, the time before a transition, and all your anticipation and nerves and frustrations and adrenaline are still stuck inside you with no where to go but to bed?

Because I’m in this stage, I feel like I’m wasting my life away. I know, it’s an exaggeration {you don’t get voted Most Dramatic in h.s. for nothing!}, but that’s what I’m tempted to think on lazy Sundays with travelling plans on Tuesday. There’s nothing to do right now- too soon to pack, too snowy to go out, wrong time zone to call friends or family- and so I feel stuck. It’s the awkward waiting period that lasts a few days and then goes away; it’s a time of transition, and so I’m antsy.

As previously mentioned, my bestie and I are planning on getting a place together. I’m meeting with the realtor next week to discuss stuff, and the ball is really getting rolling! I know God has a great place for us, and I’m so excited to move into this next stage.

Along with the anticipation and happiness of going home and finding a new home with the bestie, there is the sadness that comes, too. The reality of Grandpa’s passing will definitely sink in once I’m home, and I know I will really feel the loss as Grandma moves into my parents’ home and I see her frequently but Grandpa no more on earth.

I’m excited to start working for my parents, but I’m also nervous scared apprehensive about the whole process. Things will be different, because I’ll be doing a different job, I won’t be living at home {once we get a place, of course}, and I now have 6 months of experience that I didn’t have in June. But it’s still an unknown, and that means it’s an omnipresent thought in my mind.

Also, when I go home, I’m going to be volunteering for a crisis pregnancy center! I’m very excited to start serving!!! During training, the lady in charge of the education program {they go into schools and talk about abstinence and things like that} said that she would love for me to be a part of their program because I’m single. Guess being single is cool still! ;) I’m really looking forward to getting back to working with kids; I do miss my after-school groupies.

And on a lighter note, the bestie has been doing what she does best and sharing the passion for all things BBC and Sherlock, and now several of our friends are “on the bandwagon” {and by bandwagon I mean totally and completely obsessed}, and when Season Three comes out, we are planning a dress-up party for each episode! There are only 3 episodes; don’t think we’re totally crazy {we are, but not for that reason!}.It will be especially fabulous because these parties will be at our own homes, which is totally crazy because omg when did we get so old, but at the same time, it does feel kind of fun to think of hosting a themed party with friends at my house. Boom. I just grew a long white beard.

Thanks for listening, friends.

Heaven rejoices, I reel

This is the post I knew I would write someday, but am totally unprepared to actually write it.

Yesterday I got the phone call I’d been expecting for a long time, but was totally shocked to receive it.

Yesterday morning, my grandpa went to be with Jesus. He was 92 years old.

All day yesterday and today, through the shock and the pain and the tears and the phone calls home, I bless the Lord. All my family’s prayers were answered concerning Grandpa’s passing from this life into the next.

• Grandpa went to Jesus peacefully; he was not in pain.
• Grandma was not alone; my aunt was with her.
• He had lived to see his 60th wedding anniversary with my grandma

There are many other reasons for me to praise the Lord regarding Grandpa’s life, and I’m amazed at the Lord’s faithfulness. God is so good, even in this agony of loss.
But it’s not true loss. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will see Grandpa again, and what makes that knowledge even sweeter is that Grandpa doesn’t have Alzheimer’s any more! Even through my tears, I smile, because Alzheimer’s is no match for Heaven. My God wins!

Yes, there is pain, even though we’ve been expecting this for a long time. But there is also Jesus. I cannot describe the peace that has been with me every moment, even when I sob and clench my fists and wonder. His peace really does surpass understanding, and I am so grateful.

My family would appreciate your prayers, especially for my dad, who lost his father, something I shudder to imagine, and for my grandma. But God. God is good, all the time.

Grandpa with his perpetual smile

Heaven rejoices, and I rejoice too

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Friends, my paternal grandpa will not be on this earth much longer. As some of you may know, he has lived with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years, and while that affects the mind, his physical self was not doing so well either. The weekend before I came back to the Frozen Tundra, I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa was...in a bad spot. I had never seen him like that, and I'm so grateful that Grandma and I could call for the nurse and make sure nothing was wrong.

He has gone up and down since then {has it really only been a couple of weeks???} and my mom keeps me updated, and from what I can tell, Grandpa is ready to meet Jesus face to face, and his body agrees. He could last a few more days, or he could be with us for a few more months. It just seems like the time is closer rather than farther, so I ask for prayer.

Please pray for my family, especially my parents and my grandma. Please pray that every step of this journey will be peaceful and that the pain will be eased by the knowledge that we will see Grandpa again in Heaven. That's what makes this season the best of times and the worst of times. It's so, so wonderful to know that even when Grandpa dies, we will see him again in Heaven, that he will really be himself without the horrid Alzheimer's disease, and that he will not be in pain; his hip won't bother him and he won't have to take pills. But it's awful to think that Grandpa probably won't meet my husband or kids; it's hard to think of family gatherings without him. And it's worst of all to think of my dad losing his dad. So please pray for my family in this journey of letting go of Grandpa, of rejoicing with him and grieving with each other. We are at peace, we are happy for him, and we are sad for us. Thank you for your prayers.