Christmas '08 right before they opened their present from me

Memories of my Papa

It’s hard to think about papa as not being sick. The past several years he beat death in so many ways that I can’t believe he is really gone. I was so glad when they decided to move to Yakima. I was so glad to get to know him again. I really did enjoy sitting with him in the room and just reading with him. He would always read his Bible. I am really encouraged at how even though he was suck in a little room down at Izzy’s he still pursued that Lord. He was always praying for people and talking to people to see how they were doing. It is such a relief to know that he is in Heaven right now partying with God. I’m so glad that he isn’t confined to that little room and his oxygen tank anymore.

When we were little papa was so much fun to play with. He always played by “our rules”. I don’t remember many actual times of us being together when we were little but I do remember him always being around. I remember their house with the cherry trees in back. I remember their mobile that they moved in to after that house. Papa always kept cinnamon bears and gum for us in the pantry. One time I went up to some old folks party with him and nana at their mobile court and I accidentally hugged some other man’s legs because I thought he was papa. It was at that same party that I had my first taste of alcohol…. I thought it was juice. I remember one time it was just me and papa and he took me to dairy queen and he let me eat my ice cream before we ate our chicken strips (or hamburger). I thought that that was so cool. I was like “my parents would never let me do this!” Papa was always doing things like that. He spoiled us. He was the best. He used to sit in his reciliner and I would sit or stand behind him and just brush and brush his hair. After we would brush his hair the hairbrush would be all greesy from whatever he had in his hair to keep his curls under control. I don’t remember much else from when we all lived in tacoma.

I do remember going to see them every summer at their cabin in montana. I loved going down there to see them there. Every summer we would build a boat (normally it was a scrap of wood nailed onto another scrap of wood with an old cloth for a sail) then we would walk down to the creek and “sail it”, meaning we would put it in the water, watch it flip upside down and then follow it as far as we could.  Papa had an old blue bicycle that he would ride around camp and he would let me ride it whenever I wanted. Sometime during the week or two that we were there he would take us up the road to the restaurant with the huckleberries and the giant buffalo and get us all pancakes. He would always introduce us to his friends around the camp. It was never a mystery that papa was proud of us and wanted to show us off to all of his friends.

I remember when they moved to Yakima the first time I was so excited. Mom, nana, Pierce and I used to sit on their back porch and play games while papa would sit in a chair next to us and watch. Papa and nana were always playing games. I think thats one thing I appreciate about them most is that they always knew how to have a good time where they were at. Quite often they were having people over to play “chicken feet”. Pierce and I used to spend the night at their house a lot. We were always trying to play tricks on papa and he would always act like they had really worked.

My grandpa was also pretty quarky. He used to make up words; my personal favorite “Abba Dabba Yaubba.” It was just a discribing word for really anything. When I was little he used to always tell me how “purdy” I was. I always knew how much he loved me and was proud of me, he was always telling me that. Even just recently whenever I would leave Izzy’s after I would visit he would say “I love you Austi. Proud of ya.”

This probably is a lot of rambling and I know I could go on for a lot longer about how awesome my papa was and how when he said that he was praying for you he really meant it and his jelly bean jar and how he always called my nana his doll or baby and how he had a great sense of humor and smile. I’m going to miss him so much.