My Grandpa Morgan passed away on May 19, 2012. My entire family was able to travel to Minnesota to celebrate his life. Grandpa will be missed, but we treasure the memories we have with him. Below is a little piece that I wrote for Grandpa's eulogy.
When I
think of my Grandpa I have many wonderful memories that flood through my
mind. I have many memories of holidays
and summer spent with Grandma & Grandpa Morgan. It was such a treat to be able to spend a
couple of weeks in Minnesota during the summer.
I have very vivid memoires over many years on warm Minnesota nights
sitting in the garage in lawn chairs drinking a Pepsi with Grandpa and
discussing life. I remember thinking
that Grandpa was a hero. As kids we knew
about Grandpa being a marine and we loved to hear stories about his time
overseas and see the many items that he had brought back with him. Grandpa was very proud of being a marine but
at the same time was very humble and it was not till we were much older as kids
that we learned the extant of his service while overseas and then it was us who
was proud.
Grandpa was
a man of tradition – which I loved! I so
enjoyed Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa’s house because there was a wonderful
safety that came with having traditions.
We would always eat the same wonderful meals on specific days of the
holiday. Gifts were always opened on Christmas
Eve and stocking on Christmas day. His
traditions flowed over into normal every day life too. Waking up at Grandma and Grandpa’s and coming
downstairs it would be a strange morning not to find my Grandpa sitting in the
same spot at the dining room table drinking his coffee and reading his morning
paper as if he was waiting for us to get up and join him. He would always ask us what we wanted for
breakfast and if we wanted bacon and eggs he was happy to oblige! We would then eat our breakfast while reading
the funny pages of the newspaper together.
Grandpa
Morgan was a fun Grandpa. Grandma and
Grandpa had kept many of the toys that my dad and uncle had played with – it
was such fun to visit and go into the attic and dig through the boxes to find
the toys. Grandpa also loved to play
with us – from setting up train tracks, to taking us bowling, crochet in the
yard, to card games at the dining room table – Grandpa was a hands on Grandpa!
Grandpa
also had a great sense of humor. He was
always joking around with us. We would inevitably
go shopping when we were in the states to get good deals. Grandpa would without fail ask us what we got
when we returned to the house and always would poke fun at the amount we spent
or what we had bought. I also remember
as a little girl Grandpa allowed me to use the riding lawn mower, which I
thought was the greatest thing! I would
get so excited to cut the grass because Grandpa would let me doing the riding
while he pushed the standup mower and did a great deal of edging so that I
could just ride in the lines. One
afternoon while riding I somehow ran into the big tree that was in the front
yard on the house. I remember being
terrified that I may have broken something, but when I looked over at Grandpa
and saw him laughing I knew that everything was just fine.
I am
grateful for the memories I have of my Grandpa and hope that I can continue on
his legacy – I am thankful for the things he has taught me.
