Families are Forever

Grandpa John Glen Earl

On July 11, 2012 Michael's cute grandpa passed away. The funeral was held this past Monday and it was such a great tribute to a great man. During the past three years I have had the opportunity to get to know Grandpa Earl. He was always on my side telling Michael, " Well, I am still waitin. " He always wanted us to get married and I am happy that he waited to return home until he was able to see the wedding happen in front of his own eyes. After the wedding he kept saying, " That was the best party I have been to in years!"

I remember the first thing I learned about this man.. how much he loved his wife. His wife passed away ten years earlier and everyone says he never quite got over that. One day I drove up to Michael's house and his grandpa's car was outside. The license plate on the car said Marge and had a number on it. I asked Michael what that meant and he said, "Oh after grandma passed away he showed up at our house excited about his new license plate which he has someone put his wife's name on it." My heart just melted. I remember saying to Michael several times during our dating life that I wanted what his grandpa and grandma have. Guess what... Luckily, I think we do.

One of my favorite stories about Grandpa Earl is regarding BYU and University of Utah football games. Now in case you are unaware, these two football teams are huge rivals and it is mandatory in Utah, that you choose to like one team or the other. So with that understanding, Grandpa Earl went to a BYU and U of U football game with his daughter. When they showed up he was wearing a red U of U sweatshirt. U of U was winning for quite sometime and Grandpa Earl loved the underdogs. His daughter said the next minute she looked over at Grandpa and he had changed out of his U of U sweatshirt and  into a BYU one. To make matters better, they were in a sea of  U of U fans! I just thought that was the funniest thing. P.S. this is not just a one time occurrence. Apparently, it happened with hats at home in front of the T.V. screen as well.

Grandpa Earl will be missed by many people. In that short time I knew him, he taught me what it meant to just have fun and to love your family. Michael and I always say, "it is what it is," because that is what grandpa would say whenever something didn't go his way. What a wonderful attitude he had. We love you grandpa.