The Salad Days

Some years ago, only days after I proposed to my wife, I attended a talent show/benefit for a short term missions trip that my then fiancee would be taking that summer. My wife performed in the talent show quite well. I watched the rest of the talent show, and then proceeded over to greet Steph's family, who also were in attendance. I will admit to being self conscious, given the fact that I would be seeing her grandfather, Danny Thompson, for the first time after proposing. As I greeted Steph's grandfather, he informed me in his gruff, rascally tone that I did not deserve her.

Since those early years of my wife and my relationship, we shared much with him, sublime and ridiculous. He saw Steph and I marry. Steph and I saw him welcome two great grandchildren into the world. I saw his eyes light up at the talk of the travel adventures he was taking with his lovely wife, Mary. We all saw Sammy Sosa break a corked bat at Wrigley Field. And I saw him continue to enjoy his life even when things were becoming increasingly difficult for him. I could always talk baseball with him, and he always seemed interested in anything I had to say, and that's saying something, since I'm only interesting 25% of the time.

For us, this day is a sad one. It is the end of an era for me, but much more so for my wife and her family. The word that comes to mind is surreal. And it reminds me that death is not how things should be. It is never easy to say good bye to the people for whom we care so much. We will miss him very much.