McQuality Moments: Grandpa

On the morning that we were leaving Michigan City, I got a call from my mom that my grandpa wasn't doing very well. He had been in bad health for a number of years, but he always surprised us. We had been in Illinois before Michigan City and were supposed to head back to Ohio that day. We debated for awhile what to do and decided to head to Illinois. Thank goodness we did. I made it to the hospital by 4 pm and sat with my family for the rest of the night until we said goodbye to my sweet grandpa around 9:30 pm. We lost him on June 28, 5 weeks after we lost Granny. They were married for 65 years and they didn't know how to live apart from each other.

After my grandma passed away, my poor grandpa broke his hip. He made it through surgery and then he got double pneumonia. He made it through that too, but then it was just his time to go. There is always a plan, and this was his plan. Grandpa was sick for far longer than Granny was, but I think he stayed around to take care of her. Grandpa was so strong and he battled for so long. The poor guy went through so much. When Granny was gone, he was ready to be with her again.

It still is so hard for me to realize that both of them are gone. We lost them in such a short amount of time, and it was and definitely is still really hard. It gives me comfort to know that they are both together again though and completely pain free!!! I know they are cracking everyone up in heaven and still the life of the party.

My grandpa was a guy who could make and fix anything. He built so many things for me. Some of my favorite things are the trophy shelves I had in my room growing up, a little rocking chair for my boys, and my all-time favorite thing he made me is the bedroom outfit that we use now. He made us our bed, a chest, a dresser and a night stand. There is a plaque on our bed that is engraved with Granny and Grandpa's name and I love it!! I think of them every night when I go to bed and I know they are looking down on me and watching over all of us.

Although some people might think my grandpa was intimidating or grumpy, he was a giant teddy bear to me. He definitely told things like they were and I had to make the boys cover their ears several times so they didn't learn his vocabulary, but he was super sweet too. He loved to play with the boys, get them all riled up and make them laugh. He would tickle them and get them so wound up! I remember him doing that to me when I was a kid too!!!

The past few years (or ever really) he didn't prefer to talk to people when they called. If Granny wasn't there, he wouldn't answer the phone. However, they had a caller ID that came across the TV when someone called and Grandpa would almost always pick up the phone and talk to me when I called. It didn't matter if Granny was there or not, he would still talk to me and I loved it! It was nice to always catch up with him, even if for just a couple of minutes. We would talk about the weather, Days of our Lives, the birds and the squirrels and the boys. I always asked how he was doing and no matter what he would always say, "Well pretty good!" If Granny wasn't there and I asked where she was, it was always a funny story. Either he didn't know, she should have been home by then, or he would rattle off exact details with the times. He always surprised me and I loved our talks….thanks for picking up, Grandpa!!! :)

I loved watching Grandpa open his Christmas presents. We would all open presents one at a time from youngest to oldest. We would open one present and then it would be the next person's turn, so you had to wait awhile until it was your turn again. Grandpa would open his present and then instantly start opening his next present. He couldn't wait and would love to peek and he was so fun to watch!! As I got older, I liked watching Grandpa more than I liked opening my own presents.

I was so blessed to have the 4 best grandparents that anyone could ask for, and I was definitely blessed to have each of them as long as I did. Grandpa Haseley was my last one, which made it especially difficult to say goodbye. However, I know that they are all together now and watching over all of us.

I just posted lots of pics of my grandparents when I did Granny's post, so I will just post a few more now. This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandpa. He would have been 87 in November and this is when he turned 85!!

This is a picture that I just found today of Granny with my boys. I love it, so I thought I would share it with you.