Grandpa

My grandpa died this morning. How do I begin to express how much I loved that man. One of my earliest memories of him was of a game we would play. I would sit on his lap and look at his watch and say, "what time is it, Grandpa?" and he would say, "it's kissing time!" and I would give him a kiss and then ask again and again and again... His looks were deceptive. He was a big man with a gruff voice but he was a total marshmallow with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was always sweet and loving and I always felt that no matter what I did he loved me and was proud of me. He was proud to have lived long enough to be a great-great grandpa when Holden was born and his family meant everything to him. He had so many stories that I wish I had recorded. Stories about his childhood, history of McMinnville and areas around Oregon. He was humble, hard-working, a genius at math and loved figuring out the best time to invest or sell stocks. Even in his last months, whenever we would visit him, he would get a big smile and was happy to have hugs and kisses from us all. I miss him already!