Babies Make Four: Sadness in the Midst of Happiness

Baby plans are coming to completion. Plans are coming together and we're getting to a point where all we will have to do is sit around and wait for Baby Luke to come into the world. We've been getting presents in the mail (thanks Auntie Suzy & Uncle Dave for the Baby Bullet Food Processor, expect an update soon with us testing out home made baby food!) and our parties celebrating the birth of the baby are quickly approaching.

There is one person, however, that won't be here to celebrate our baby's birth. My grandpa passed away yesterday at the age of 92. It was quite a big shock because even though he was getting up in age, his health was remarkably good. He drove to the post office almost every day, the grocery store every other day, and every few weeks he would drive to Lewisburg to go to Walmart and have lunch out with other family members. He had a heart attack yesterday morning and just didn't make it.

Since my grandmother died last February, I talked to my grandpa almost every day, just to check in. When I found out I was pregnant last August, Dillon and I called our parents to tell them. We weren't quite ready to announce to the world yet that there could be a baby making an appearance in April but of course they were so excited and the first person my dad told was my grandpa.

I called him that evening and asked, knowingly, if dad had already told him. He said yes, he had and how wonderful that was. He talked about how my grandma loved her babies, but I know deep down he loved little babies just as much as she did. My pregnancy progressed, and I kept calling him. He would ask how I was feeling and I would tell him about my good and bad days. And then he'd say "Make sure Dillon makes you dinner tonight, he's the one who did this to you!" and he'd laugh real hard.

When we found out it was a boy, he was the 2nd person I called. He kept saying that we'd all love that baby to death no matter what it was, but he did let it slip at one point that he thought it was a boy!

The last time I saw him in December, I got to show him pictures of the nursery and before we left he said "Now, don't forget to call me as soon as you go to the hospital!" I promised him I would and fully intended to keep that promise.

Even though he won't be here to see the baby in person, I promise to tell the baby stories he told me about working in the coal mines, funny stories that he told and yes, even make that Thanksgiving Turkey he gave me at Christmas dance for Luke and tell him that it was a gift from his Great Grandpa.