Ekins Express

Grandpa Garner

Saturday morning we all received an email from Mom that Grandpa Garner passed away. I sat alone in my bedroom at the computer suddenly overcome with emotions. Sad at first for this great (temporary) loss, the pain my dad must be bearing, and just simply missing my grandpa. But then I felt a relief of happiness in thinking how joyous a reunion he was having in Heaven. He'd finally get to see his daughter Kathy once again after losing her when she was just nine years old. A goodbye he never got to give. And then to see his dear sweet companion after 21 years! She was his rock. So it's a bittersweet time really to mourn the loss of someone who has been in my life ever since my earliest memories. But I know I will see him again. And just like my Grandma Garner told us shortly before she passed, "I will always just be in the other room." The veil is so thin, I believe more than we realize.

One of my favorite pictures with Grandpa is when I was about 18 months old and he had me on his knee. He sang "A doodally doodally doodally do, etc." while I bounced up and down and had one of the biggest smiles on my face. Every time I do that with my kids I think of Grandpa Garner.

I loved going to his home as a kid. Talk about endless opportunities to explore and just be a kid! We loved to climb onto the roof of the old caboose in his yard, slide down the A-frame attachment while getting slivers every single time (but it was well worth the ride), daring each other to go in the chicken coop, swinging on the squeeky swingset my dad had as a kid, playing "house" in their RV, also daring each other to go down into "the celler" and thinking Tom and Graham were so cool because they did and would come up almost every time with a salamander, walking to Speedy Mart for treats (and remembering the time Tom and Graham told us they saw a man's arm on the side of the road), getting too close for comfort to the edge of the ditch and wading through when the water level was low enough, swinging across the ditch with a rope attached to the tree, the time Grandpa flooded part of his back yard and we stood on logs, Grandma's pinatas that Grandpa had fun pulling the rope with, and so many others.

And then I will miss hearing him tell stories, his giggle, his beautiful white hair, and the way he smelled every time I'd give him a hug.

You will be missed Grandpa. But I am so grateful I still know where you live.

These pictures were taken last year at the Garner Family Reunion 2010... Rett's first time meeting Grandpa. It certainly won't be the last.



I love the way they are looking at each other.