Saying Goodbye

Today we said goodbye to my Granddad.  This has been a rough few weeks as we come together as a family and prepare for his service.  I decided to speak at his memorial.  I am not sure I will be able to get through what I want to say or portray exactly how I feel but I will try.

Below is the speech I wrote. I completely went blank and didn’t even look at it once when I spoke. Levi told me beforehand not to cry but looking out at all my cousins and family there was no way I could hold myself together. I will forever miss my Granddad and there still isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of my Grandmother.

"One of the first things that comes to mind is when I was in high school he came to watch us while my parents went out of town.  While they were away I bought a cat, snuck it into the house and hid it from everyone.  When I left for school I remember leaving on my radio and telling GrandDaddy not worry about it that I left it on all the time, this was to cover up the meow sounds.  He never questioned me. I hid that cat until the day my parents flew home. We named her Secret.

 

One of the best memories of my grandfather would have to be our never-ending love for the UGA /GT game.  It ultimately didn’t matter to either of us who won I don’t think but the spirit of the rival each year is something I will miss.  I even got Daddy Lou to wear a UGA sweatshirt for Christmas one year.  I like to think his influence had a little bit to do with Levi’s alliance with GT now.  I will forever cheer on a little for GT in my heart in his memory.

  I will always feel like one of the lucky people in life.  I had a lot of my great-grand parents in my life and my grandparents were all around as well.  There are a lot of people who never meet great-grand parents.  My son is one of the lucky ones as well.  He will have his own memories of his great-grand daddy that I know he will cherish forever."

Selfies with Granddaddy Lou on his 90th