We drove up to Ohio 2 weeks ago for my Grandpa's funeral and it turned out to be a pretty good trip despite the circumstance. It's usually about an 8+ hour drive and with the stops we needed to make for Caedmon, it took us about 10 hours. Luckily though, he was a great traveler: He ate, played and slept at all his scheduled times and was a great baby! Praise the Lord!
We got up to Ohio late Wednesday night and had a great time catching up with all my aunts. David and Jon didn't arrive until Friday evening. This was the first time, with the exception of my cousin Andrew, that everyone had met Caedmon, so that was a lot of fun and he definitely brought a lot of joy to the house -- especially for Grandma Courtney!
The service for my Grandpa that Saturday was really special. It was tough because it was an open-casket service -- the first one I've been too -- but it was good to see him one last time and I think it brought about good closure. And he looked really good! He was dressed in the tweed blazer that he wore so often and then we put the matching tweed hat that he wore just as much on his chest.
There was a portion of the service that was dedicated for reflection and it was really nice to hear all the great stories about Grandpa -- stories about his childhood as he raised the best and biggest potato crop in Medina county, stories about how he taught his daughters positive work ethic as they plowed the fields and occasionally ran over the little pine trees and tried to tape them back together, stories about how he danced with his grand-daughter (me), stories about how he dearly loved his wife (the Queen of Manor Care), stories of the legacy that he has left behind in OB/GYN practices and care, and the list goes on. We laughed, cried and grinned ear to ear as we heard about the life Grandpa had lived and that memory will live on with me forever, as will the stories and special memories that I had with him! I love you Grandpa!
Here are some other fun pictures from the trip:
