Jim, I miss your gentle eyes and sweet smile. Always willing to talk with me or walk with me, looking at trees and pondering life. Thank you for your love, guidance and your friendship. I will treasure our memories and know that you are no longer lost in your world. I love you.

For my Granddaddy.
today i woke up, and you did not. today i gained a new understanding of the concept of grief. grief comes crashing over you like waves, hopeless at the thought of your absence, desperately saddened by the thought of never seeing your smile, your bright blue eyes, or hearing your voice ever again. grief also comes with the recognition of the memories that you live through within my heart. i will never forget sprinting through my backyard as a little girl, pointing excitedly at the pretty rocks that you would lift, revealing an entirely new world of critters that i was fascinated by. i will never forget learning how to gently catch fireflies during starry summer nights, enclosing them in the glass jar held in your caring hands. i will never forget sitting by your side in your office, with you enthusiastically encouraging me as i drew little doodles all over the backs of your endless pile of scratch paper. or the way your entire face lit up the second you saw me and my family. i remember the stories you used to tell me, the way that you immediately knew the answers to my math homework without having to try, the warm hugs you embraced me in every day before i saw you again. it is still hard to accept that the last time i saw you is the last hug you will ever wrap me in. i miss you every day, i feel your absence every second. but i am so beyond thankful. thankful for having the best, most gentle, most loving granddaddy i could have ever hoped for. for the amazing memories that you filled my life with. for the special place in my heart that belongs to you and only you. rest in paradise, granddaddy. i cannot wait to catch fireflies with you once more in heaven.