I apologize for taking a week-long break from the blog. I'm sure you'll all understand...

As we all knew was inevitable, my grandfather passed away from esophageal cancer. He died the same morning that I wrote my last post. His last words were apparently something about going to a "big party." This thought makes me content. As I've said before, it was harder on the family than him. He was ready, knowing he had lived a good life. And he really had. He was so actively involved in so many things, even continuing his ballroom dancing up until very recently. Even though he didn't want any funeral or anything (quite honestly, he didn't really even want us visiting him too much while he was sick, because he wanted us to remember him the way he was, not the way he was when he was sick), we had a memorial service (calling hours) for him last Thursday, which would have been his 92nd birthday. We all then went out for ice cream, since he had said that's what he wanted for his birthday. It was a nice way to honor him.

After reading his obituary, and learning more about how active he was in different community organizations, it made me really want to get the most out of life. I know I've written before about creating a list of things I want to do before I die, and wanting more out of life. But it made me realize that I need to put more of an effort on these things if I want them to happen.

He was a wonderful grandfather, man, and human being. I will miss him every day.