Birthday Eve Nostalgia

Happy *first birthday in heaven* to Grandad tomorrow!! ❤

Choosing my labels for this blog post, I went with "Birthdays!" + Memories + Thankfulness + HOPE.

Here's Grandad painting my nails for me sometime in 1985...

It's Babah's favorite pics of us, and I love it too!

I skimmed through these books tonight - the red one is full to the brim with stories and memories from Mom (along with two other calendars she wrote in)... and the other two are partially filled out by Grandad with little thoughts and anecdotes from the babysitting days that make me laugh!

Below is Mom's entries on these two days 35 years ago... I can't describe how much stuff like this delights my soul!  On this very day 35 years ago, I said "Grandad" for the first time. ❤  I stayed the night with him and Babah, but Mom was still unable to sleep because she was focused on ideas for decorating Dad's brand new State Farm office.  Hahaha that's so her.  I never knew Alan had helped out with the roofing at the SF office.  I also reeeally love that Bill Lemieux (written as Lemo below) was helping them with the move.  Seems appropriate, since he was over at their house this weekend helping hang some new outdoor pictures!  According to Grandad's entry, he and I "went for a stroll" outside after a breakfast of sweet potatoes and applesauce, then he wrote that while I took a nap. =)

Bill still being awesome and helpful, 35 years later! =)

This one from Grandad's book made me laugh out loud at his dry sense of humor!!  He is super tenderhearted and would tear up and cry pretty easily.  Babah, not as much.  So him saying he acted proud since Babah was so proud the day I was born was pretty funny!  (I'm their first grandchild and I was born on their 30th anniversary.)

Fun fact:  On this very day last year, I was interviewing for a CR job in Wichita Falls, Texas.  (Chet, Sarah, and Elizabeth were the only ones outside my family who knew at the time.)  Here's my pre-interview mirror selfie at the hotel with Mom.  I am thankful for so many reasons now that it did not work out.  The last "advice" Grandad ever gave me was on this topic, saying I have a really good thing going with my current job and the life I've built in Tulsa, and that making more money wouldn't be worth the trade unless I'm really sure about what I'm heading into.  He was right, of course, and it was a well-timed word of caution and wisdom!  So I'm thankful for that, and for the many other things he did for me throughout my childhood and young adult life!

Last year, we celebrated his 90th birthday at Virginia's Cafe.  He was in a wheelchair and very limited in his mobility and control after the stroke in March.  He was surrounded by good friends and family that day, some who had traveled from other states to see him, and I believe it was the event that kept him going for a while (the thing he was looking forward to and trying to stay alive for).  Less than a month later, the day after JoBug assured him we would take care of Babah, he died peacefully.

This year, he is wheelchair free and pain free.  He is alive and well with Jesus, probably riding horses and helping care for them, and I believe he knows we all love him and wish him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY in heaven!! ❤