Monday, October 20, 2008

My Grandpa







Photos: Grandpa's First Time Meeting Mara, 4 Generations (Mara, me, my Mom and Grandparents), Grandpa and Grandma at Mara's Baptism, Mara visiting Grandpa at the Nursing Home for the first time, Mara grabbing at Grandpa while visiting at the Nursing Home.


My Grandpa Lloyd Majerus passed away on Thursday, October 16th. He was 86 years old.

Although he had a lot of health issues in the past, he always came through ok, and I think I had started to think he was invincible. No matter what happened, he always recovered and went home. Maybe a little weaker, but he always went home. It was a big shock to get the call, since he hadn't really been sick. He was in the nursing home, recovering from a broken leg. He was doing physical therapy, and hoping to go home soon. Mara and I had just visited him the week before, and he had shown her off to the other residents at dinner (he loved wheeling to the dining room with her on his lap while everyone commented about how cute she was!).

I've been having a pretty hard time with the whole thing. I'm very grateful that he was able to meet my Mara, and he seemed to have a very soft spot in his heart for her. I am sad that she won't have a chance to really get to know him, but so grateful that they were able to meet, and they spent quite a bit of time together in the short time they knew each other. You'd think that after 22 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren, that the novely of a new baby would wear off, but he (and my Grandma) loved Mara like she was the very first. I know that Mara brightened some of his days at the nursing home, and I'm happy she was able to do that. Although she won't remember him, she will grow up hearing stories about him (everyone has a great story about him!).

My Grandparents were married for 64 years. My Grandpa was a great man, everyone who met him liked him right away. He had such a great sense of humor, and he will be missed by so many!

5 comments:

Celestia said...

Oh Kate, he seems like such a wonderful grandpa. I am so glad you have pictures of him and Mara together. One of my grandfathers passed away 3 years ago and he had identical twin boys. I know he sent me mine to always remind me of him. Your family is in my thoughts.

Unknown said...

Katie,
I'm so sorry about grandpa. I'm sorry that I didn't know until now but you are in my thoughts. Give our best to your mom.
Linda

Anonymous said...

Great Grandparents are so special and so rare! Treasure those memories of Mara and him. She is so lucky to have met him and shared great moments!

Our thoughts are with you.

Stephanie, Daniel and Family

Anonymous said...

We all miss Grandpa...but we luckily have a ton of great memories with him. He really did love that little girl :) He talked to me about her when I came to visit him and he seemed to really light up when he said her name or looked at her picture on his wall. She will really enjoy hearing about him as she grows up, and definitely is lucky to have met him :)

Love you,
Jenna

Andrea said...

I am so sorry to hear about your Grandpa and I hope your family is making it through o.k. Having those pics of him with Mara are so special! He obviously loved being a Great-Grandfather and having the opportunity to meet Mara is something that so many families never get to experience. It's awesome that you will now have these memories to share with Mara as she grows up!