My Papa

March 3, 1977

 Just a little over 34 years ago Nana and Papa were on hand the day I was baptized, today Papa was greeted into Heaven by Nana and Jesus. My Papa was a sweet man who was a bit of a rascal when he wanted to be. I have many memories of my Papa, bear with me please as I put a few down into cyber space.  I will always remember Papa making me feel special when I felt a little overlooked as the big sister.

 

 Keep in mind I wasn't but when you were an only child for 2 and 1/2 years and suddenly you welcome twins into your family you feel that way. There were several times when I was little that Papa took me to the grocery store on Larpenteur ave. Usually because Nana needed something and he was sent on an errand. We would get whatever we were sent there for and then he would walk me right to the hot wheels spinning rack. I could choose one car for "helping" him get the groceries. I remember I got a limo one day and I had a really hard time sharing it.

Then there was the first time I was able to help him get cars to park in the yard for the State Fair. Nana and Papa lived right accross the street from the Minnesota State Fair. They rented out parking space in their back yard for the fair. The only way people knew about the parking was if someone stood on the corner with a sign and pointed them in to the alley. I was standing on the corner with my cousin Eric for what felt like forever waving and waving for people to park int he yard. Once the yard was full we went back to the house, where Papa had Lick A Stick ready for us to eat as a treat. Naturally there were a few cookies snuck to us during our time on the corner as well.

When Papa had his first scary bout with Diabetes I remember being very scared. I remember thinking he was going to die just like my great grandpa did. One of the stories the aunts and my Mom told from that time was that he claimed he had no granddaughters. The truth of it was he had a lot of grand daughters. I suppose we all could have been very offended. When Papa recovered and people told him what he said he thought it was so funny that he developed a special greeting for all of us. From then on every time we would venture to his house he would call "Hiya Boys" in greeting. To which someone always said "we're not boys" only to be smothered in a giant bear hug.

On the day I got married Papa came to Hawaii to be a part of our day. When it was his turn to have his photo taken with me he said to me "I can't call you a boy today, you're my beautiful girl"

My Papa was a sweet man who was a bit of a rascal. There are hundreds of stories floating around in my head, but the truest fact is that I will miss him terribly.

The morning Papa passed away Danya and I were enjoying a playdate with some of our friends when we talked about a school in Japan who had lost over 75% of it's population in the Tsunami. That's a lot of little kids who just arrived at Heaven's gate.

On top of getting to finally be back with Nana, Uncle Tom, and Uncle Rick as well as many others I know they are all helping with all those little kids, and if you can imagine Papa with all the energy he could ever hope to want and his 2 boys back together again, I just know if there are frogs in heaven Papa and my uncles are rounding up the boys for a frog hunt, and if anyone gets out of hand they are giving out Licken's (with the toungue not the hand)

He's happy, he's pain free, and he's enjoying the presence of his Savior. I can't think of anyplace I would rather he be right now.

My Papa, or Papa great to the great grand kids, did get to meet and hold Danya several times, even though she wasn't overly happy about it at a year old, I love these two photos. Especially the one when she was little. She has the same hairdo in those days, darn 4 month old hair loss, and she's so sweet about it.