Our hymn of praise
“Lord of all to thee we raise,
This our joyful hymn of praise”
We’re having a hymn of praise today. Gathering together and expressing our gratitude for love, family and the fact that we had a wonderful man in our lives for many, many years. We’re celebrating his life, his silliness, his warmth, his roles as husband, father, grandpa, great grandpa, brother, uncle, great uncle and most importantly friend.
He would have been 89 in December and was married to my sweet “old Granny” for 61 and a half years. As our hearts begin the process of healing from the grief of being apart, I can’t help but be filled with gratitude for everything we had. Old age is a gift that not all are lucky enough to receive. His life was full and our lives were too because of what he brought to them.
One of my favourite photos I have of him is this one taken by our wonderful wedding photographer
I love the pride on his face. My biggest hope now is that I can continue to make him proud, that when we are reunited in the afterlife he will pull this same face as he gives me one of his famous great big bear hugs.
I want to honour his memory and I’ve been thinking about how to do this.
Grandpa was a documenter in every way! He spent hours researching our family history and compiling all the information. There were always photographs being taken and he wrote and recorded so much of his personal history. We have books that document his life during the war, his experiences in the navy, and his journey with religion.
Next year, I’m starting a project and I would love for others to join me. Each week I’ll be sending out a writing prompt to help me (and hopefully you!) begin writing the stories that our descendants will want to read.
Introducing My Meaningful Memories, a prompt each week sent directly to your inbox. This is separate from my normal emails. If you would like to join me for this project sign up below.
A quick note to Grandpa: When we do meet again I expect you to have a biscuit waiting for calling Granny “old Granny.”
Love you xxx