Grandpa Morgan

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.