Til we meet again Great Grandpa Joe.

Great grandpa Joe passed away this week. It's been bitter-sweet. I'm so happy that he's with my sweet grandma. And also that he's reunited with many people in heaven. I know that it was a happy reunion for him and so many loved ones.

Even though I know this, death is hard. It's hard to have a loved one pass on. My heart has ached and I've done lots of grieving this week. Friday night, as I was laying in bed it really hit me. My grandpa's funeral is tomorrow! I knew the time would come, after all he was 95. But I never wanted that time to come.

I have so many awesome memories with grandpa. I want to share a few.

My grandpa was a firefighter and on one of the occasions we were at his house he wanted to teach all of us grandchildren how to be prepared if there was a fire. So in his garage he filled it with a fog machine(I think), so it was dark in the garage and "smokey". He wanted to know that we were comfortable with dropping and knowing what to do incase of a fire.-That alone shows that he cared about our well-being.

We would play a game where he would lock our fingers together and he wouldn't let go. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my fingers loose. He would just laugh and smile.

I loved that he could have fun, and took time to play with me. No matter how old I got.

He had so much love and respect for my grandma. Growing up my grandparents always showed love and respect for one another. They showed each other how much they loved one another by action and in words. What a great example to see how a couple should treat one another.

Grandpa Joe

Grandma and Grandpa always had a treat for you. Whether it be cookies, swedish fish, peanuts etc. we never left being hungry. AND in their garage their was a fridge, just of soda pop. Grandpa would always say "make sure you grab one, even for the road"

These are only just a few. I'm sure grateful to have so many memories of my cute lil' grandpa.

My grandpa's funeral was amazing. Really. He was loved by so many people, and he's touched a lot of lives.

His funeral was honorable and I think Grandpa would of been very pleased with it.

Instead of him being taken to the graveside in a hurst he was taken by a firetruck that he helped acquire.

The flags at the fire station were at half mast.

Grantsville firefighters lined up as he was taken to his graveside.

They rang a bell

They laid their white gloves on his coffin.

They had a wall of water that was misting in front of three firefighters. One on the right, one on the left and one in the middle. The one in the middle represented my grandpa. He passed through the water, which represented him going through the veil.

That was the first time I had ever seen or heard of anything like this, and it was by far one of the neatest things I've ever witnessed.

After the firefighter went through the veil they did a last call over the radio for him.

We then said our goodbyes to grandpa. Whether it was aloud or in our hearts. I'm grateful that his funeral was so honorable. He deserved every bit of it. I'm SO grateful for him, and I look forward to the day when I see him again.

“Love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is not found only at the end of the rainbow. Love is at the beginning also, and from it springs the beauty that arched across the sky on a stormy day. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death. How rich are those who enjoy it in their associations with family, friends, and neighbors! Love, like faith, is a gift of God. It is also the most enduring and most powerful virtue.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley