There- 9:30 PM

This summer has already made me feel pretty helpless at times. While it is an awesome experience to be able to work abroad I can’t help but feel disconnected from my life back at home. Most recently I have had to sit and ponder from a far the life and death of Rachel’s grandpa Keith. He passed away yesterday and while somewhat expected because of his very old age and deteriorating health it is still hard to swallow. I would definitely like to be there for Rach at this time because I know how much he means to her.

I have only known Rachel’s grandpa for the 4 years I have known Rachel. We would try to visit him when we were up in Salt Lake as often as possible. Every time we would go to his house I would have to explain who I was, where I lived, what I was doing and the fact that I had married his “little Rachel”. It was fun to talk to him though. He was so genuine and sweet and would try his best to remember who you were. He was never slow with a joke and made me laugh every time we saw him. More than that though I loved how much Rachel loved him. She loved how sweet he was, and how gentle and charming he could be just sitting in his recliner, barely able to breath on his own. He would compliment her all the time and tell her how beautiful she was. They would talk for a little while hand in hand and Rach would look so happy. We both knew that he might not remember exactly what went on but she was convinced that it made him happier and I’m sure she was right. I think he reminded her of her own father and the wonderful man that he is. She was so curious about his life and would read anything that she could find from his past. One day when we were up in Midway she found a box of his old stuff and spent the next several hours reading everything in there from journal entries to the backs of pictures, a smile on her face the whole time. He was a great man and I enjoyed getting to know Grandpa Keith during the last few years of his life. I only wish I could have met him earlier on. We will miss you.