Grandpa Jack

This is something that I wrote the day I found out that my Grandpa Jack had passed away. Later that week I also read it at his funeral.

What an amazing person to have as a Grandfather! He got to travel the world at least 3 times over and saw places that i will more than likely never see. He was a caring Husband, Father, Grandpa and Great Grandpa. He loved to see us grow and loved to be the life of a party. He loved to dance- this is one thing that I will always remember about him, because I always thought that it was fun to watch him- he even danced with out the music. Of course music was always around him the form of his grand children.
He loved to garden...tomatoes were his favorite- this seems to run in the family! We would go to visit and there would be tomatoes on the counter from his garden. One thing that you need to know is that his last garden was on the bank of the channel by his condo...we started calling him a Mountain Goat...that is what you had to be to get on that bank- it was steep...I wouldn't want to go down it. I do have to say that he did fall one time...and one time only!
He loved his boat! Water was one thing that I realized that he always had to be near. When we were little he had a rather large boat up at the docks in New Buffalo. And then he downsized to a smaller one that we went up and had fun in. One year we even got stuck on the beach...my Mom gt stuck in the sand trying to push us out! He then moved into a condo on the St Joseph river, and had a boat there too. I did get to drive that boat...I even got it stuck on a sand bar! Grandpa was not happy with that...but what is a girl to do? I thank him for teaching me to drive a boat!
There are so many memories that I have. And I will have to write about them more later.
One thing that I do know is that he was a Man of God. One thing that surprised me the most in my life is that even though I did not become a full Catholic he was proud of me anyway, because I was following God in a walk that takes us all to Heaven no matter what religion you practiced. That is one gift that I will always take with me, I know that he was proud of me and all of his Family. He has a legacy that will go on and on and on- for many, many, many years to come.
Grandpa always said the same prayer at dinner when we ate together....at the end he would thank God for His Blessings (of which he had many) but the number of "many"s would vary, sometimes there were two and sometimes there were many, many, many more. Grandpa you gave us many, many, many blessings in our lives. THANK YOU!