What a week..

So much has been happening this week, I almost don't know where to begin. I will start with the news that even though we all knew it was coming it still hit us all like a ton of bricks. On October 1st Nicolette's dad Richard passed away. He has been in a coma since May 4th when he suffered his stroke. The past (almost) 5 months have been very difficult for all of us. We have gone from being hopeful that he would recover to realizing that he would not and experiencing all of the feelings and emotions of it every step of the way. When he had his stroke I was very hopeful that everything would be fine and wouldn't let the thought of him not making it enter my mind. In a wierd way, I am glad that we had the last 4 1/2 months to prepare for the day that he passed. I think it made it a little bit easier for all of us, it gave us all a way to say our goodbyes and to grieve over time instead of having it come as a surprise. Over the last 5 days since he passed away we have been preparing for his funeral which is tomorrow. It is going to be a difficult day. I have spent time thinking how sad it is and how we are going to miss having him here for different events and to watch his kids and grandkids grow up until I realized that instead of being sad for what he is not going to be here for we should all be very happy for the times that he was here for. A friend of mine who lost her dad told me that and once I started thinking about it, I was more at peace with everything. Now I am more thankful than before for how good of a Grandpa he was to Grace and how good of a Father and a Father-in-Law he was to me and Nicolette. Throughout the upcoming days and years we will think of him often and miss him at times too but we will always have those times that he was here to be thankful for. Today we went to the funeral home to approve his casket and make sure he looked ok for his funeral tomorrow and when Grace saw him she walked over to him and said I miss you Grandpa. It was a very sweet moment that I am glad that I got to see. Gracie loved her Grandpa and will miss the times that they played together and the times they spent together. ~10/06/09