Grandpa Morgan, 1915-2013

The Saturday after Fourth of July, my grandpa contracted a UTI. He had been under hospice care for a month or so, meaning that all they could do for him was give him an antibiotic and some morphine. I went down to visit him the next day after church and he was not doing very well. He was awake and conscious, but was having trouble talking and indicating who people were. However when I went to say goodbye, he smiled and knew it was me. We had a tender moment that will always be very special to me-especially because that is the last time I saw him when he was awake. I went down to WB a couple more times that week to sit with him, but he was asleep each time. That Friday, he passed away at the age of 97.

That weekend was a whirlwind-I had actually been on my way down there that night to see him when my dad called and said he had passed. Obviously I went down anyway and spent the weekend with my dad at home, esp since mom was in California at the time. We were on the phone a lot with my family, trying to figure out the logistics of the funeral. Everyone was going to Columbia, where it was to be held, but none of us currently live there. There were a lot of flights/hotel rooms that needed to be booked, work to be taken off, and the funeral date/time still needed to be set.  I myself was trying to figure out how the weekend was going to work, because I already had plane ticket to Portland, OR for Lauren's wedding. It was all getting really stressful, but we eventually got it all worked out.

Wednesday night I drove down to Columbia and met my parents, sister and two oldest nephews. Thursday was the viewing-it was nice to be able to visit with people who knew and admired my grandpa so much. People showed up that had known my grandparents 40+ years, and we all shared stories and laughed a lot.

Friday morning was the funeral. After the service, we pulled up to the cemetery and the Marine honor guard was there, ready to go. My grandpa was to receive a full military honors burial. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

family (minus little gavyn).

After the funeral service, we went back to the church and had some nice lunch prepared by the Relief Society. My nephews along with my cousin's daughter had a good time bonding, by running around the gym of course. We decided that after we went back to the hotel to change clothes, we would go to the SC State Museum. My grandpa always loved going there. So we went, and I loved walking through with the twins, teaching them about things we saw that come from South Carolina. Love them.

Saturday I was in Oregon for Lauren's wedding (next post!), but Sunday I came back and my mom, sister, two oldest nephews and I went down to Charleston for the day. We drove by our old house, my sister's high school, and other important landmarks before going downtown. We always try and go to Charleston whenever we are in South Carolina because it is 1) beautiful and 2) so important to our family. But this time was particularly special...I have very specific memories of going down to Charleston, especially from after we moved to Va Beach and later up to NoVa. My grandparents, mom and I would drive down from Columbia, and would always first go to the Battery, a little park/walkway that is where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. We would park their white Buick Park Avenue, walk down the Battery, then get in the car and try and find a place to park at the Market. Sometimes we would walk a little bit through there, looking at everything that was for sale. Sometimes my mom would go into the little store that sells Christmas things all year long. But we would ALWAYS go into Ben and Jerrys and get ice cream. We have so many stories of the ice cream melting in the car and there being a disaster, always resulting in a lot of laughs. This time, it was raining-a typical Southern, summer afternoon thunderstorm-but we got to do all that we came to. Ryan, my oldest nephew, was born in Mt Pleasant, across the river and he got to hear stories from my sister of when he was a little baby. We had a nice day.

I enjoyed so much celebrating my grandfathers life and being with my family. I had a wonderful childhood, and that owes so much to my grandparents and their ability to love and laugh with ease. My grandpa especially has been such a big part of my life the past two years, and I will miss him. But I am so, so happy that he and my grandma can be together again. The whole week we were all commenting how that reunion in Heaven must have been amazing-they loved each other so much and I know my grandpa missed her every day since she passed two and a half years ago. That is what life is all about-family. Being with family. Enjoying each other, uplifting each other. Being proud of where you come from, who your family is and was, the circumstances in life that have made you who you are. I am grateful that I know this life is not the end, and that I will see my grandpa again.

But in the mean time...
see ya Tuesday.

Independence Day.

If you don't know by now that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday you should probably just go elsewhere. Kidding, but only a little bit...I mean, how could I NOT love it? Summertime, America, baseball, DC, fireworks, friends+family...all of my favorite things. I look forward to this holiday all year and am sad right after it ends, so I have been trying in recent years to extend celebrations if possible.

This year, I decided to have a pre-Independence Day dessert gathering at my house the Sunday before the holiday. I made a cheesecake and a bunch of sugar cookies, put out some lemonade, and decorated accordingly. There was a nice turnout and we all had a good time.

Wednesday (July 3rd), LRG went to the Nats game. The Nats are always in town on July 4th, but the game is always during the day since the fireworks on the National Mall go off around 9pm. So they always have fireworks after the night game on the 3rd. We had a nice time :) AND we stalked one of the security guys who was on the field because he was BEAUTIFUL. After the game G and his patriotic shorts stayed at my house since the game the next day was early.

The day was finally here! My mom came up to go to the game with G, Caity, and I and Becky/Nate met us there later. We had good seats in the shade and got there in enough time to see the USMC Silent Drill Corps perform on the outfield grass, and the giant America-shaped American flag unfurled during the National Anthem (in which the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed us to sing along).

And then...I decided that I was going to eat a hot dog. Three years ago I went to the Utah State Fair and ate a corn dog-the next day I woke up with violent food poisoning and I haven't eaten a hot dog/corn dog since then. But, it was Independence Day. And nothing else in the stadium sounded good. So I decided to give it a try. I told Caity to take a picture of it happening, and she took not only one, but about 40 all in a row. I have spared you all the entire collection, but here are a couple of my favorites...mostly because of the faces G is making in the background, lol. I did it everyone!!!

i think this is my favorite because G makes this face ALL THE TIME.

i call this...baseball field in Ray Bans.

After the game, my mom went home to WB and G, Caity and I got some food stuffs before heading down to the Mall on the metro to hang out until the fireworks. I saw this little poster in our train and loved it. <3

Once we got to the Mall, we lounged and ate and drank Cheerwine (!!!!!! its true. i found this Southern soda treat at the Target on 234) and opened up the RW&B glow in the dark accessories I brought. It wasn't ALL that hot by this point and it was a nice evening with friends.

After it got dark, the fireworks were shot off behind the WW2 memorial/the reflecting pool. We were sitting on the west side of the Washington Monument so we had a clear, close view. They were gorgeous of course. The entire time I was feeling very happy and peaceful. Patriotic music was playing from the speakers, I was sitting on the grass in Washington DC with my close friends and thousands of fellow Americans...I felt very hopeful. Hopeful for the future of my personal life and that of our country as well. Its important to remember...good always wins in the end.

On a more serious note, this holiday is like heroin for someone who studied Early American history in college and already has a nice little book collection growing on the Revolution, and the military, and US Presidents, etc etc. It is often hard for me to put into words how much the Founders mean to me. When you stop and think what they all risked-indeed their very lives-so that we could be free and form our own government...just, remarkable. Courage is the one word that comes to mind. Especially after viewing this clip from the miniseries "John Adams". I watch it every year-it is one of the only scenes from any movie/show I have seen that literally leaves me breathless. Each colony is asked to vote on independence and after it passes 12-0 (NY abstained), silence fills the room and the camera pans around and focuses on the faces of these marvelous men who just committed treason against the King of England. It is stunning. We are a very imperfect nation, but we are still free. And it is because of men like this.

Happy (belated) Independence Day!