great_grandpa_irv

I suppose if, ultimately, this blog is going to be something that Maile and Lauren come back to in the future, it should be a record of the good days, the fun (and funny) days, but also the sad days. Today was one of the sad days.

This morning GG Irv passed away. We were very lucky that we were able to share both Maile and Lauren with him over the past five years … and especially, just three weeks ago when we went to Chicago to visit with him one last time.

GG Irv, once a great story teller, was largely silent by the time the girls met him – but they still had this great connection with him. You would have thought going into a nursing home and seeing a wheel chair bound man that didn’t really talk much might have frightened two little girls – but that was never the case for neither Maile nor Lauren. I like to think his eyes sparkled a bit when they were around and there was certainly a lot of love filling the room while they romped around and explored or played the latest game of interest with GG Bea.

I’m headed to Chicago tomorrow for the funeral so we decided to tell the girls tonight that GG Irv had died. We asked around a bit how best to do this and received some good advice, but mainly what you would think – be honest, go slow and do your best to answer the questions that inevitably will come. I had a few tears when I sat them down – I think that was confusing to both girls.

For some reason Maile had in her head that people died when they reached 100 and she knew GG Irv wasn’t 100, so she wasn’t clear how this had happened. We told her that sometimes people die when they are 100 and sometimes they die when they are 94 like GG Irv. She was curious about how it happened and where he went. She was sad that she couldn’t see him any more, so we talked about memories and pictures. That gave her the idea that we should draw a picture of GG Irv so we could remember him – so after we put Lauren to bed, Mommy, Daddy and Maile sat down and drew a picture of GG Irv using a picture Aunt Julie had emailed us a couple days ago.

GG Irv by Maile Girl

GG Irv by Mommy

GG Irv by Daddy

I honestly don’t think I would have thought to have done something like this if Maile hadn’t suggested it – but it felt good to do – the best I felt all day in fact. So thank you Maile … and good-bye, GG Irv.

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