Dear Role Model in Heaven,

WOW! It is hard to believe it has been two years that you have been gone grandpa. It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready to leave for my Sophomore year of college and I stopped to see you and grandma before my long haul back to South Carolina. You were telling me to go and get that 4.0 GPA I always wished for, and you continued to tell me how proud of me you were and how you knew I would continue making you proud. Then two weeks later we were talking on the phone, the first thing you said to me was "Bethany, I don't like what you are doing." Instantly I thought to myself "crap, what did I do now" because you always had a way of knowing things about me without anyone telling you. Instead you were just giving me some great advice about how I should not argue with my parents as much. We talked, then you said you'd let me go live my life without the old man bothering me by calling me. We said our goodbyes and you told me that you loved me and how you were proud of me. Little did I know at the time, but that was the last time I would ever speak to you. So much has happened since that day--so much I want to tell you.

First, I want to tell you how thankful I am for everything you did for me and I never told you. Thank you, for always being there for me, for coming to pick me up just to give me a getaway from life when I didn't have my license, then by just having your house as my getaway when I needed it most. Thank you for always being a phone call away--especially in college when I spoke to you three to four times a week. Thank you for teaching me so many things in life, like how to fish, mow the grass, how to cook, how to cherish things as simple as a penny, nickel or quarter. Thank you for teaching me the love of the game of baseball, teaching me responsibility and so much more. Thank you for spoiling me because we all know you did, either with Texas Roadhouse dates, or simply a check in the mail at college with a "Thinking of You" card instead of a care package (but no one was supposed to know about it). Thank you for coming to my sporting events, like soccer, and watching me play when I know you had no interest in it or any idea what was going on, but also coming to my softball games then discussing technique after the game about what I could do to improve to become a better ball player. Thank you for being my go to person, my best friend, my role model, and someone I could confide in because you gave the best unbiased advice where I knew you were just looking out for my best interest even if I didn't agree. Thank you for teaching me to not have a worry in the world because there is no reason to have one. Even though I still worry, I am better than I was.

But most importantly, thank you for showing me the meaning of love and how to care for people no matter how hard it is to, even though it gets me in trouble sometimes. I mean there is a reason you were anonymously nominated for 'Caregiver of the Year' for all you did for grandma, where people who did not see it first-hand do not understand the love you had for her. You were also very loved in the community for all you did for everyone, everyone you knew or interacted with seemed to love you and look up to you just as much as I did. You had the biggest heart and always put everyone before yourself no matter what they did or how they treated you and I try to be just as great as a person you were and to meet the expectations you always seemed to exceed.

I also want to tell you everything is going great down here, which I'm sure you already know. I have not gotten that 4.0 GPA yet, but I am trying my hardest to every semester. I still look to call you after every great grade I get, or just to tell you every little detail happening in my life. Before any decision I make, I think to myself what you would tell me or what you would want from me, or just what advice you would give me. Oh and you don’t have to worry, I am keeping great care of your coin collection that you got me into and now I double look every coin I see.

All the grand-kids are great. We are all growing up so fast, getting on the right track for life, following our dreams. We still joke about who was the favorite grand-child when we all know it was me. The great grand-kids are great also. Your great-granddaughter, whom you never met, I know you would love her, is so full of life and always smiling, and your great-grandson is just as happy and energetic as he always was. He just started Kindergarten and I already know some things you would say to him, but I try to give him some of the advice you gave me as a kid. Your own kids and the in-laws are also doing great. Even though they don't talk about you much I know they miss you just as much as everyone else. Most importantly, I know grandma misses you more than anyone else in the family. You two were married for 63 years and never spent a day apart. Grandma is doing as great as she can do. She is nagging at the grand kids to either get a boyfriend, or get married, have children of their own, or simply just asking us how life and school is going and telling us how we must do well. She is taking your role since you no longer can. With you being gone, it has brought the family closer, which is what I know you always wished for. You have gotten your wish. We always bring you up at family events, and what you would be doing or saying about our life decisions or we talk about memories of you that make us all laugh.

Two years has gone by, and some days it seems like it was just yesterday I got the phone call and was flying home to be with the family. Two years and I still look to call you after I get news that is upsetting, exciting, confusing, or if I just need a friend to talk to.I know you are in Heaven looking over all of us and I try my hardest every day to make you proud. I know I get off track sometimes, but I also know I have you as my Guardian Angel looking down on me and everyone else. I miss you more than you could ever imagine. I miss my best friend. I love you and I hope you are enjoying the paradise you have been given in Heaven. If Heaven wasn't so far away, I'd come visit you in a heart-beat.

I love you,

Your ‘favorite’ granddaughter