RIP PA

Pa- You passed away Sunday evening around 4 PM. Daddy didn't call me to let me know until midnight. He said he didn't wanna ruin my super bowl party. I told daddy I had to call Felicia I knew she would wanna know. We sat together on the phone & cried for about 15 minutes together. We both wished we could have said another goodbye to you. I know that you was not our first pa but you was the one we knew. Our other one passed away before we was born so we never got the chance to know him. You was our father's step dad & they loved you so much just as much as we did.  You filled our heart with laughter & love always. You treated us as we was yours all along & I guess to you we was because you watched us grow up & become ladies! Me being a nurse I knew the time was coming when we was going to have to say our goodbyes after you had told us you just wanted to come home. I knew you was coming home to die in peace in a place that was yours & two days later you was gone! I know you now are no longer hurting & are in heaven with our heavenly father but you are still very much missed here on earth by so many of us. Today was your visitation & funeral & it was so hard. I hated saying goodbye to you it broke my heart! Watching you being covered in dirt seemed so unreal, I wish it was all a dream but its not. You really are gone now :( Your funeral service was wonderful all your fellow military came to honor you to do the gun salute & to fold the flag that covered you! Watching it be handed off was tough.  

I know that death is inevitable along with grieving. I have learned that grieving helps us to cope & heal. The intense heartbreak indicates that a deep connection has been severed. Grieving is painful but its also necessary. Going forward does not mean forgetting about our loved one that died. Enjoying life again does not imply that our loved one lost is no longer missed. Piecing together shattered emotions does not mean we betrayed our loved one that is now gone. It simply means that grief has ran its course. 

February 20, 1929-February 3, 2013

Pa you are forever loved & missed!