If only I was as talented as he...

All day today I thought about how excited I was to write my next post. It was going to be great. It was going to be on the stupidity of how drunk people act in public and I even have videos to support my claim.

However, I now find that idea inappropriate and meaningless compared to the events that happened today in my family. I type post this with tears streaming down my face and a heart full of sorrow because my dear grandpa Doug left this world unexpectedly today.

My heart hurts for my mother, who lost her father. For my step-grandma who lost her husband. For my dear young cousin (shown above with Grandpa Doug) for losing the only father she ever knew.

Although my time spent with him over my life was not extensive, I still have found memories of him and man that he was. Let us not forget how just a few months ago, he tried to set me up with one of his friends. He was a very talented artist who saw the world and it's beauties in ways that I could only dream of.

As horrible and difficult as the next few months will be for my family, all I can think about is how my grandpa is in a much better place. I'll miss his crazy stories and the $25 bonds he would give us kids at Christmas. I'll miss him telling me "no, I can't give you a painting, I have to make a living somehow." But most of all, I'll just miss him.

Here are a couple of his wonderful paintings:

image courtesy of the Utah Arts Council

image courtesy of flickr.com

I'll see him one day again....and it will be a joyous reunion. We'll hug and cry and be overjoyed to be together again. It's then and only then will I get mad at him for not giving me a painting.