Thank you for the memories Grandpa

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The last 24 hours have been very difficult for my family. Wednesday night about 10:45 my cell phone went off while Christy and I were just settling into bed. Anytime your cell phone goes off around 11:00 at night its not a good thing. It was my little brother Jon letting me know that something had happened to my 85 year old Grandpa. He didn't know many details but he said my Dad was already there and that he and my other siblings were getting ready to go over as well. I asked him to call me when he knew something because we had just put Kate to bed and it would take us a little while to pack our little family into the car. While Christy and I were talking I decided to call my Mom and Dad and see if I could learn more. My Mom seemed frustrated when I spoke to her and she asked me if she could call me back in a minute. We interpreted my Mom's frustration to mean that although we didn't know what was going on, things were likely OK. Since Jon seemed to have taken the role of point person I was not surprised that he was the one to call me. His first breath was used to tell me that my dear Grandfather had passed away. I physically felt my lungs contract and my heart take a double beat in that moment. Why wasn't I prepared for this information? It seems like I should have known the very second Jon said my Dad had rushed to my Grandparents house that my Grandfather's passing was imminent. I do not want to go into many details of what occurred over the next few hours except to say that my family spared no time in rallying around my Grandmother to provide comfort and to say our goodbyes. I can't help but think that my Grandfather's passing happened exactly as he had wished. He simply laid down and peacefully passed away. When the paramedics arrived there was really nothing to be done. In my opinion this was the best thing that could have happened. His body was so very tired and I know it was frustrating to him to lose the ability to do so many things that he truly loved. He had lived a full life until it expired.

I have always been so very proud of my Grandfather and I have always been so proud to bear his name as my middle name. I know that he loved me so very much just like he loves all of his Grandkids. I feel so lucky to have been born the oldest Grandchild in the Moffitt family. I have so many amazing memories of my Grandfather that I feel I need to put down before time can rob them from my memory.

My Grandpa has always had a green thumb as long as I can remember. He always had the most beautiful yard and he grew the tastiest Raspberries I think I have ever had. I remember Andy and I weaving through the raspberry bushes finding the perfect ones to eat right off the bush. As I look back now I realize that my Grandmother was growing those Raspberries for her Jam, but Grandpa would still point out some of the riper ones to me without hesitation when Grandma wasn't looking. He treated us so well. I will really miss working in the yard with my Grandpa. When I was young we would go over to his house and work in his yard. He expected perfection and there was never the option of trying to cut corners. I swear even as he grew older he could still out work us kids sometimes simply because he was willing to do what it took to do it right.

My Grandfather has an amazing ability to conceptualize things and then to build them. It was rare that we would come home from my Grandparents house without something my Grandfather had built. I remember him taking wooden dowels and big 2x4's and turning them into little wooden boats for us. I remember sitting in the tub surrounded by tug boats, big shipping boats, and a speed boat all that my Grandpa had made for us.

I remember in the 5th grade my Grandfather helped me with a Science Fair project. My idea was to add turn signals to the back of my bike. It was supposed to just be a silly idea that maybe I would make a poster board about, but I didn't really think I could do it. My Grandpa proved me wrong. By the time we were done we had fit my old mountain bike with a fully functioning set of blinkers. He built a battery pack onto the frame just about where the water bottle would go and a thumb toggle switch up on the handle bars which sent the signal on to a harness that came off the seat post and went out with a blinking red light on each side. As I sat back and looked at how cool my bike had become I began to realize just how incredible by Grandpa really was. That one experience is likely the root cause of my fascination of taking things apart to understand how they work for the next 10 years.

While Christy and I lived in my Grandparents basement I had so many wonderful opportunities to work side by side with him. I cannot count how many times I would get home from Work and Grandpa would be in the yard working on the sprinklers or planting flowers. I was only to happy to put on my work clothes and run around the house while he flipped sprinklers on and off. I remember when he helped me convert and old food storage closet into our clothes closet. He would do all the calculations in his head and write them down for me. Half the time I didn't understand what he intended for me to do, but it worked out better than I could have imagined every time. There were some scary moments as well. When my Grandpa had me pull out his table saw so he could work I got a little nervous. He would move his walker next to the saw and push the boards through. Looking back I was likely more in danger of injuring myself than he was. He was just a natural when it came to working with his hands.

I remember the talks my Grandpa and I would have, especially when I needed some guidance. My Grandpa was a man of quiet dignity. He was the kind of man that did what was right even when he knew no one else was looking. He didn't need the recognition of the world, his self satisfaction was more than enough. He always seemed to have a story or a simply analogy that simplified things and made the chaos of life a little more bearable. He had such a great sense of humor and he was great at seeing the eternal perspective of things.

I really regret that I didn't get him talking about his life until I was an adult myself. My Grandfather did some pretty incredible stuff during his life. It was so interesting to hear about the places he had traveled while he either worked for the Government as an engineer or when he was a young man in WWII. My Grandfather came from very humble beginnings and to hear all that he accomplished was amazing. It always would astound me when he would recall a stories of old friends or people with whom he had worked from 30 years ago with complete clarity. He truly had a very sharp mind. I was so very proud that coming from his rural community in central Utah he was able to graduate from the University of Utah as a Mining engineer. Because of his example most of his sons, and now his Grandson's are going on to graduate from the University of Utah as well.

I truly don't think I could have asked for a getter Grandpa, mentor, and friends in Grandpa Jack.
Here is the link to his Obituary.

http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=120990195

P.S. I'm probably not done with this post but I'm just so very tired after the events of these last few days that I need to go to bed.