Meeting Grandpa Dale & the Funeral.

After my wonderful breakfast with my mother, I hit the road in my Dodge Caliber rental car (I actually really liked it!  It's a super cute car) and traveled on I-70 east to Goodland.  I stopped at my aunt & uncle's house to feed Anna, change her diaper, and just stretch my legs.  Aunt Gaylene came home about an hour after I had gotten there (they left the door unlocked for me...you can do that in a farm town), and we were able to chat and catch up a bit.  I hit the road around 4 pm, headed for LaCrosse.  I'm kind of a speed demon, especially on I-70, so I arrived in Hays in about 2 hours.  Knowing that everyone had already eaten dinner, I stopped at Long John Silver's.  Hooray for hush puppies!  I loved those things!  I was staying at my grandfather's house and my Uncle Dennis and Dad were already there.  After the introductions, my dad just doted on Anna for a while.  He's such a sweet grandpa!  The next day consisted of the viewing and was filled with a lot of family gatherings.  I hadn't seen some of them in years - Uncle Duane not since Grandma's funeral in 1995!

It was weird to see my grandfather in his coffin.  He looked great - more like the man I grew up with, not so much the very thin and frail old man he was in the last few months.  But, it was just a body.  It wasn't my grandfather.  He's still here.  I think of him with my grandma again and it makes me so happy.  I didn't have a lot of emotion going on...just some strangeness.  I remember my cousin Tiffany mentioning that it didn't feel like he was gone.  I think part of that is because we had all grown up enough that he wasn't part of our everyday life.  When my grandma passed, I was devastated, but I saw her 4-5 times a week.  I hadn't even seen Grandpa since April.  It's strange...that's all I can really say.

The services were nice and the interment was ridiculously cold and windy.  It was over quickly and we all hopped in our cars and headed to the Rush County senior center for a little luncheon.  I was able to spend a few hours there before I had to head back in my car to drive to the Denver airport.  Here are the pics from that day:

The 4 kids:  Uncle Duane, Aunt Deanne, my Dad, and Uncle Dennis

A proud Grandpa!

Me and my bro, Jeremy.  He's a great uncle.

Tiny little party dress!

Lorrie, Dad, Me, J, and Anna