Papou

We were blessed to be able to make it to my Papou's funeral in Utah. Thank you weather for cooperating for that trip!! We were sad by Papou's passing, but we know he is in a better place where he is finally pain free.  I have so so many wonderful memories of my Papou, and I want to share a few of the with you today.

1-He loved a deal!! I have already recounted the story of the ash trays in my blog about why I started a deal blog.  That is truly the best example of his deal loving ways, but they extended far past ash trays.  He took me the library every Saturday morning when I was growing up (on our way home from Sample Saturday at Dans).  At the library I usually left with as many of the for sale deal books as I did the ones I checked out. Boy did he love a deal!

2-He loved books.  My moms love of books came from her father and mine from both of them I am sure! We are a family of readers! So, for all of you bookclubbers I keep harassing to read the monthly books, you can blame him! 

3-As mentioned above, he took me to Dans for samples. What a great free activity for me to spend time with him and get to know my grandfather as a small child and growing up.

4-We never once completed a run to Dans run without someone shyly stopping us to ask him if he was the French teacher from TV (yes he was). People rmembered him from their childhood and never forgot him.

5-He was a professional piano player.  Why did I not have the patience to learn?! He played in a band for longer than I have been alive.  He was also an incredible singer and sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with his gorgous wife for  20 years (I believe).  I remember as a child going to the Red Flame restauranto see his band play on the weekends.  We went pretty often, but it was always a treat! He and his band played at my wedding. They were great! He famously sang the song "Georgia" often, always dedicating it to my XiaXia and his sweetheart (whose name happes to be Georgia).

6-Papou wrote a few songs. One was called "Rochelle" and written for my mom, another is a Christmas song entitled "Christmas Time Once More." 

7-Papou was hilarious! The younger grandkids may not remember him when he was younger, but I do. He was always up to something. I remember him dressing up as a woman for Halloween, bra and all. It was such a joke!  As a kid I remember laughing harder at that than anything else I can remember.  Somewhere there is a picture of that floating around.

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Wasn't I lucky to be his oldest grandchild? To live with him for a number of years growing up? Once when I was in junior high school, I fainted at school because I was anemic and had not eaten in a day or so.  The school could not get ahold of my parents, but Papou was home.  He came and picked me up and took me to a little neighborhood restaurant and fed me and getly reminded me to eat better and take care of myself in spite of the fact I was trying so hard to be an obnoxious teenager at the time. 

Papou will be missed.  I had a hard time imagining Christmas without him sitting at the piano playing music (and without celebrating Cathy's Christmas eve birthday as we did every year when she was alive).  BUt, imagine the reunion Papou had in heaven! Can you picture what this Christmas was like in Heaven with Papou playing the piano, with all his siblings, his parents, and his daughter?  I am sure Cathy still had a celebration of her earthly birthday and tht they particularly celebrated the Birth of our Savior here as well.  What a joyous occasion, what a party it must have been!

Papou is missed greatly, but we will do here on Earth until the time we WILL see him again.

Following are some pictures from the funeral. One of the crazy joyous parts of death is that it brings the family all together.