Today was a hard day. It was the day that we said Good-Bye to a very special person.

Vaughn’s dad passed away today. His health had been failing for some time, but I think that we all thought that it would deteriorate until he was placed in the hospital and we would all get the chance to tell him how much we loved him before he passed on, how much we appreciated the fact that he was always there for each one in his family, how much we look forward to seeing him again in heaven.

Lloyd (and Jessie too! :)had 4 children, 20 grandchildren, and at least that many great-grands. And he managed to make each one feel like they were his favorite. He had an endless supply of Wilcoxsin’s Fudge Bars for his grandbabies, and always took the time to sit down and enjoy them with us.

Yesterday at lunch, his heart stopped beating. He was taken to the hospital, where they managed to bring back a weak heartbeat, and he was placed on life support. Vaughn’s mom, Vaughn, and a sister that also lives in town, were there, and the other 2 kids were called. They both arrived last evening, and were there for Lloyd when his life support was shut off. He passed on this morning.

We are so glad that we were still in town to be here when Grampa died. There will be a memorial service for him next weekend, giving the extended family a chance to come.
In the meantime, we have been spending our time with the kids; it is their first experience with losing a loved one. The older kids know that Grampa is in a much better place, and that if they also love the Lord, that they will get to see him again. The littles are taking it harder since they really can only think about just how much they are going to miss their Grampa. Savanna doesn’t get that she will never again see Grampa, and Molly just goes around kissing everyone and rubbing away their tears.
We cannot, and would not, wish Lloyd back to this world; we are really just grieving for ourselves, thinking on how much we will miss him. We wouldn’t want to wish him back to this world with all it’s pain, prescriptions, exhaustion. He is in the presence of the Lord, with a perfect, healthy body, and is full of joy and peace. Yet, We will greatly miss him.

We <3 you Grampa…