Saying Goodbye to Great Papa Stan

Christmas 2010 (Landon wasn't too happy to have his  picture taken!)

Same night a few minutes later (still one of my favorite pictures of the 2)

We have many wonderful memories of this great man.  Too many to capture them all here.  He will be sorely missed, but I'm sure he's having a high old time catching up with Great Grandma Betty!  He was the man who taught Matt to fish, who always asked and wanted to know what was going on in our lives, who ALWAYS had time for the great grandkids, who was a master gardener, and had plenty of smiles and laughs to share.  I am blessed to have known such a man as this.

One Last Breath...

...and it's home to be with Jesus. Grandpa was disconnected from life support today. The EKG showed little brain wave activity and his kidneys were failing. The nurses unhooked the ventilator and he breathed for a few minutes on his own, but a little after 1:00 this afternoon, he took his last breath. We all prayed with him and told him how much we loved him before he left this Earth. So I'm sure that he is up singing with the choir and holding Grandma's hand. We will all definitely miss him, but we have so many wonderful memories to hang on to.
Here are just a few:
-Grandpa was always a singer. He passed his love of music to his daughters who then passed it down to the granddaughters! :)
-Everytime he'd come down to visit at mom and dad's, he'd never say, "hello" it was always "hoo-hoo."
-When I was younger, and still recently, I always remember thinking how gross it was that he'd always mix all his food together. I'm not talking about mixing the beef with the noodles, but the beef, noodles, jello salad, bread, corn, etc. all together. He always assured me that it tasted the same (even though I never believed it!).
-Whenever someone would pray aloud, he would always join in with a "yes" or a "do it" as his way of talking to God too.
-He always had a story to tell and was always so up to date with things that were going on in the news.
There are so many more things I could share, but I'll stop for now. The funeral arrangements will be made some time tomorrow and Kristina's trying to get a flight home. I know the family would just appreciate prayers. God has definitely called one of his most good and faithful servants home.

Family Time

Boy, oh boy have we had a few busy days lately. With grandpa's viewing and funeral we have been very busy and very tired. But, I did want to comment on what a nice time I had visiting with relatives. Kristina came home from NC and my cousin David came back from California for the funeral. Although it was not the circumstance any of us wanted, we did have a good time laughing, talking, and reminiscing.
I learned that grandpa had gotten into trouble for smoking behind his school as a 6th grader :) and that grandma loved to take pictures. Dad must've been quite the cut-up (at least that's what he was doing in ALL his pictures as a kid!) and his family used to spend almost every Sunday down at the lake. I learned that Grandpa used to brag about how all of his grandkids had graduated from college and how he was so proud of us. Grandpa taught his three sons the value of hard work and even taught Matt's grandpa how to farm!! :) And on a side note, I learned that my Aunt Maria was actually born with another name that no one ever told me about! (But I didn't feel too bad because mom said she didn't know either!)
Grandpa was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed, but he had a good long 93 years on this Earth and I'm sure his wife had been missing him dearly, since she passed away in 1977. Thank you Lord for family, close by and faraway.

Grandpa Berger

Not more than 2 hours ago, I had written a post about grandpa and how he was hanging on, fighting for life. I wrote about how dad and his brothers were having to make a decision about his care because he could no longer care for himself. But God had other plans for him and He has called him home. Grandpa was in a lot of ways like my dad, a quiet man at first until you got to know him and his funny sense of humor! :) I remember him reading to all the grandkids and being there to support us in whatever he did. He was a hardworking man and loved by everyone he came in contact with. We will all miss you grandpa. Say hi to grandma for us! :)