What a tough couple of days! Brad began his trip up to Ohio early Tuesday morning, 4:30am to be exact, and then Caedmon and I left the house at 6am to catch our 7:30am flight. Brad had to stop by a customer in West Virginia and Caedmon and I had a layover in Baltimore. Caedmon and I finally arrived in Cleveland about 12:45pm and Brad didn't get in until later that evening, but fortunately we were all able to make it for Pop's viewing. (Caedmon was so marvelous on all of our flights, and even took an hour nap in the Baltimore airport!)
The viewing was really nice. There were soooo many people there ... so many of Grandma's church friends, choir friends, golf friends and even Pop's buddies from Greyhound. Just about all of the Hottel family from Ohio was there as well.
Dad and Grandma did such a nice job organizing and displaying all of the pictures, Pop's Greyhound uniform with safety badges, and Pop's army cap. It was really neat to see all of that stuff. Pop's Prudential hat was even resting by his hand :). And to be able to meet so many of Grandma & Pop's friends and to be able to show Caedmon off was a joy! He really lite up the evening! People would come up to us from across the room and say, "This muuussst be Caedmon. Your Grandma has showed us all of his pictures! What a doll!" And even after not getting much sleep that day -- Caedmon usually takes 3 naps, yielding 5.5 hours of rest during the day and when he had to wake up 2.5 hours earlier than normal for us to catch our flight, only take an hour nap in the Baltimore airport (impressive), and then a short 30 minute nap at the funeral home, he could have cracked at any time. But miraculously, he was wonderfully happy and brought the smile and laughter that everyone needed at this time! Praise the Lord!
On Wednesday we had the service for Pop at Grandma's church, and what a nice service it was! Pastor Dan, Grandma's favorite pastor, gave the eulogy and painted such a neat picture of Pop, from the time he was a kid until his last days. He mentioned how family was so important to him and how he helped raise his younger brother Claire and care for his mother when his father died young in a car accident. He told stories about his service in Berlin during the reconstruction after WWII and how that sparked his love for driving. He spoke about how he wooed Grandma at a little restaurant where she worked to learn English. He spoke about the many trips that he, Grandma and Dad took during his "Greyhound Vacations" and his love for his Model A. He spoke about the great father that he was to Dad, and his service to Greyhound and his love for driving. And finally, he spoke of his love and support for Grandma, and that despite the Alzheimer's and the hardships they had at the end, that Grandma was faithful to her vows and how she deeply loved her husband of 58 years. Dan then went around and had family and friends share stories and memories of Pop, and I decided to share my story of Pop's cookies. Everyone snickered (ha ha). I found out later that afternoon that Karen & Jerry's kids always referred to the Little Debbie Nutty Bars as Uncle Lloyd's cookies and that a neighbor of Grandma & Pop's referred to them as Pop's cookies as well. How fun!
Overall, the trip was nice. It's always good to share special times with family, and especially in celebration of Pop's life, it was goo
d to be together.
Tatiana took some pictures of Caedmon, Grandma and me in her studio yesterday. Once she gets those pictures together and sends them my way, I'll share them.
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