One of the greatest men I've ever known

Sunday, January 3, my grandpa, Harvey Ward, passed away. He had been in the hospital for a few weeks at the end of Nov and the beginning of Dec. He's had bad health for a few years but always seemed to bounce back. This time, however, he wasn't doing so great. Although he was recovering physically, he could not remember much. He kept forgetting people's names and couldn't figure things out. In his last few days he kept asking grandma why she was so much stronger than him :)

Grandpa was one of the greatest and kindest men I've ever known. I NEVER heard him say one bad thing about anyone. He taught machine shop in high school for 31 years and had a huge influence in so many of his students' lives. One even traveled from back east to come to his funeral, a huge compliment to the awesome teacher he was. At his funeral the theme was definitely his Christ-like, unconditional love for EVERYONE. All of his kids joke that they were actually the favorite child because he really made each one of them feel so special. This is quite and accomplishment considering he has 10 children! And don't tell anyone... but I'm pretty sure I was his favorite grandchild! :)

Grandpa loved working with his hands whether it be wood or metal. He built their home himself and it's not a small home by anyone's standards! He loved to find out how things worked and loved to fix things himself. He knew everything there is to know about the Gospel, at least it seemed that way, and the Bishop even said at the funeral that whenever grandpa made a comment during their meetings the room would go completely silent because everyone wanted to hear what he had to say.

One year after Klay and I were married we had the amazing opportunity to live in Grandma and Grandpa's basement that they have converted into an apartment for a summer. I am so grateful for the chance I had to stay out there with them and will never forget that time. It took me a long time to find a job that summer and I was really discouraged so every morning before I headed out I would knock on the door and chat upstairs with them for a while before heading out. They are quite the night owls so most nights we would head up to sit in front of the TV (they would mute it to talk to us for a bit) before we headed to bed. For as long as I can remember grandpa always called me mouse, muffin, or Lindsey Lou. He was the easiest person to talk to about anything, or just sit and not talk, because he did not have one judgmental ounce in him.

Although I am sad to lose grandpa, it was perfect in how it all happened. He got to be at home with my grandma and all his kids instead of spending months in the hospital before going. Before he passed he could not remember much and kept telling grandma, "I know I was a school teacher so we didn't have that much money but you'll have enough when I'm gone, right?" And kept asking over and over if each of the children, individually, had been over and given him a hug. He was so loving and worried about everyone else and wanted to make sure everyone was taken care of. Mostly my heart goes out to grandma. Grandma and grandpa met when they just 13 years old and were sweethearts from there on out. I found out at the funeral that grandma only ever went on one date with someone else and grandpa was jealous as could be the whole time! They made sure to tell some of the grandkids that was the time before the church came out with the whole 'don't date until you're 16 rule' and the kids were quick to respond, 'yeah, that rule probably came about because of you!' She really is such an amazing, independent woman and has some plans to help keep her busy but I just can't imagine being apart from your sweetheart of 62 years.

Although I'll really miss my grandpa, I know he's not far away and keeping a close eye on his eternal companion and all of his family. I look forward to the day when I can sit down with him and just talk about everything again.