Weep Not

I haven't posted in the past week or so because my grandfather passed away. I have been blessed to know all of my grandparents for many years, and it always hurts to lose a loved one; however, my grandfather was just shy of 100 years (1 year and 2 months to be exact) on this earth and I imagine that's enough to make anyone weary and ready to move on - a fact he made clear to me not too long ago. "I'm old. People don't live forever. Death is a part of life." He was very blunt and no-nonsense that way - a trait I inherited, much to the chagrin of family and friends.

I appreciate the time I had with him and viewed his funeral as a celebration of life - a life during which he overcame adversity, witnessed change, and accomplished more than we can only hope to imagine or experience in our lifetime.

Grandaddy...


...sang in a quartet. 

...was a sharecropper who taught his suburban/city slicker grandkids where our food really came from.

...was a man's man. We had it out a few times when I was a "feisty" little girl because I couldn't ride with my male cousins in the back of his blue pick-up truck. He laughed at his mouthy little granddaughter and proceeded to leave me standing in the yard in the dust - literally. He taught me to be tough and that I couldn't always get my way.

...watched As the World Turns and baked a mean 3-layered jelly cake with chocolate frosting after a hard day's work on the farm (despite his manly man ways.)

...walked approximately 180 miles (a 3-hour drive) from his birthplace of Baxley, Georgia to Alachua, Florida in search of steady work.

...overcame illiteracy (having dropped out of school at a young age to support his siblings) to build a home for his own family, purchase property for all 8 of his children, and become a skilled carpenter.

...was forced to stop working when he was caught repairing the roof of his house at 80+ years old. He was a hard working man who would have likely worked until the day he died.

...told me to, "find a man with a job. Make sure he has a job!" That was the only dating advice he's ever given me. LOL


Grandaddy, Rest in Peace.

My grandfather and his brother circa 1933