My Tribute

Today we said our final good-bye's to a man who was larger than life and a real-life gentle giant.  My father-in-law was laid to rest today.  We grieve the suddenness of his death and regret that we were unable to say some final words.  If I were given that opportunity I believe this is what I would want to say to him:

Thank you for welcoming me into your family, at the young age of 19, and loving me like a daughter.  Thank you for seeing past my immaturity as a young wife and loving me anyway.

Thank you for raising your son to be the man he is today.  He is a kind, loving, sensitive, caring man and I thank you for instilling those qualities in him.  You impacted his life more than you will ever know.  You were his hero, mentor, boss, coach, teacher, coffee buddy and sports re-capper.  He admired you for your hard work and success in everything you did.  I am truly grateful and consider this a gift.

Thank you for being an awesome pa pa to our kids.  I wasn't sure how your big ole self would handle being a grandpa to a little baby girl.  But, you were amazing!  You called her your princess!!!  You spoiled her with a huge Little Tykes playhouse before she could even crawl.  You picked out the nursery bedding and bought every matching piece.  In her sixteen years of dance lessons... you never missed a recital.  Whewww!!  THAT'S LOVE!!!
When you learned we would give you a grandson I, again, watched you love that little guy like only an pa pa could.  You watched his baseball games since he started playing at 4 years old.  You gave him piggy-back rides just to hear him giggle.  When he got older he, like his daddy, followed in your foot steps by playing the catcher position in baseball... and becoming "a decent little catcher" at that.

You will be missed "Big Dave"!!  I am thankful that you made a decision several years ago to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.  This is not the end!!  We will see you again in heaven!  We thank God for that.  However, we selfishly grieve our loss but rejoice for Jesus' gain.  As our daughter said in her tribute to you, "Thank you for the great man you were.  Whistle tunes for Jesus and keep your mansion yard nice"