Our Angel

   Sorry my blog is late this week. We didn't get home until Monday night and then yesterday was school and today was dentist and lunch in town.
   Let's start with last week. The week was going along like all the other weeks until Wednesday when Sandi called to tell me that Grandpa Kohle was not doing well and had been asleep since Monday. After talking to her I found out that Grandma had called Mom and was scared because he had his eyes open but was not responding to her.
  I later talked to mom and she said that Cindy was coming up on Thursday and Pat was coming sometime Thursday or Friday and the Debbie was going to be there over the weekend. We had all planned on going to the horse races on Saturday. I told mom that the girls and I could come up and stay on Sunday if she needed me too. She told me that she would let me know.
  Thursday when I talked to mom there was still no change with Grandpa. Nicky went up and visited with Grandma and sat with Grandpa. Cindy and Pat also arrived that afternoon. I then talked to mom on Friday morning and she informed me that Cindy called them at 2:30 am to bring Grandma up to the home and to call all the kids in.
  I never intended to go up over the weekend so the girls and I were just playing in our pajama's. That all changed when I talked to mom. I just felt like I needed to go to Stuart. So 2 hrs later our bags were packed and we were on the road. After a quick stop for lunch the girls were watching a movie and napping. Kristi and I talked a couple time throughout the trip as she was trying to decided what the best thing for her to do was.
   I was just pulling up to the stop sign at the half way point when I received the phone call from Sandi saying that Grandpa had gone to heaven. It was never my intention to try to get to Stuart before he passed I just couldn't sit around the house that day and wait. The girls and I finished our trip. I had a really good conversation with Rachel about why I was sad. I told her that Sandi and Grandma Julie would be a little sad when we saw them. She looked at me and said, "That is okay mom. I will just have to give them a bigger hug!"
   We got to Stuart around 2 and I got to go in and say hello to grandma and goodbye to grandpa before they took him away. The next three days were busy. We spent most of everyday visiting with all of Grandma and Grandpa's friends. Man what a bunch of classy people the town of Stuart has. There were people that came by and brought everything we needed, from food, to supplies, to Beer! I also want to say Thank you to Punk, Peggy, Doug, and Rita for watching the kids so that we could go to the prayer service and for offering to watch them during the funeral.
    Sunday and Monday were both hard days but we made it through as a family. There were a lot of laughs and even some tears. The kids all had a great time playing outside and in. Rachel even kind of learned how to pee outside. She was not as successful as Paityn and Ansley but they all tried it and all got a similar lecture from there mothers. I can not wait to see what kind of thing they will be getting into in years to come.
   Rachel is so much like her dad. She does not like to see people cry or see them upset. On Monday as we are walking out of the funeral home just as we are walking by the pallbearers. She looks right at Mike and says, "Well that was fun!" I will have to admit it did give me a chance to wipe the tears and I even laughed!
   Tuesday when we were in town I had to drop off Mike's phone at the office. As I was getting back into the car I looked at Rachel and said, "Why did you make it so yucky outside today." She looked at me and said, "Mom that is not me, that is Grandpa Kohle. He is jumping on the big white clouds in Heaven." Oh to be 4 years old again.
   Grandpa I saw this weekend how truly blessed we are. You gave us an amazing mother who has your strength during the difficult times. You gave her 6 amazing siblings that all stood together and were there for each other. They brought us 19 grand kids into this world. We each have new families and lives outside of Stuart but we all were able to come together and be there for each other this weekend. The 19 of us have brought 18 (almost 20) beautiful young kids into the family. They all love seeing and playing together. We are a lucky family.
   I am going to close with just a couple things that I have learned from Grandpa in my 31 almost 32 years of life. First is that you don't always have to say what is on your mind. Sometime the best way to let someone know that they have hurt you or that you don't agree with them is to say nothing. I really am trying hard to work on this one. I would love to be a better listener and talk less. Second, you can never have too much succotash (really not sure how to spell it) Grandpa pretended to eat more of our mud pies (succotash) than anyone. I will never forget making them and letting them dry on the feed buck out at the farm house. Third, if you really want to get every one's attention at the dinner table, just slam your hand down really hard. I still remember Grandpa's being way louder that it is when I do it. I can still see his face as everyone looked up. He never said anything just slammed down is hand and then grinned that sly little grin of his. The last thing I will write about tonight but certainly not the last thing I hope to learn or remember about Grandpa is that you can never give a kids too much ice cream or a toddler too much sugar. I remember watching as the little kids grew out of the highchair and moved to the stool between grandma and grandpa. In the morning while drinking coffee Grandpa would always dip his spoon in the sugar bowl and give whoever was on the stool a spoon full of sugar. We also got ice cream every night as we watched the 10 o'clock news.
  Grandpa I love you and miss you, but I know that you are watching over me and my family. I will meet you again someday.