A Great Loss

On Tuesday, September 17th, we got word that my Grandpa had fallen and was too weak to get up. My Grandma called the ambulance and they took him to the hospital. They found that he had low blood sugar and fluid on his lungs and in his chest. The specialist came and said he had pneumonia, fluid around his heart, his kidneys were failing and he was not eating. They basically told the family that they had done all they could for him and he probably had less than two weeks to live. My Daddy and all of his siblings gathered that Thursday in Brady to say their last goodbyes. Because they were not treating my grandfather for a specific "illness" in the hospital he could not stay there anymore. My grandma was not physically able to care for him, so the only option was to put him into a nursing home where hospice would care for him 3 times a week. All of my uncles and aunt got Grandpa moved into the nursing home that Thursday. I know that it was hard for my Grandma because she just wanted to take him home. Grandpa told her, "Well, you can't take care of me so that's what we'll do!" I can just see him saying that! Daddy got to spend a lot of time with Grandpa that day and they had a sweet time making some last memories together!

Another thing my Mama told me that also made me cry when I heard about it, was what my Daddy's football boys did. Wednesday, at the end of football practice Daddy told his players that he wouldn't be at school on Thursday and why. On Friday before the football game, they surrounded my dad and told him that they were dedicating the game to my Grandpa. One boy in particular Daddy said, "played his brains out". After the game, Daddy told this boy that Grandpa would have been proud. When they were leaving the field house the boy told him, "Coach, it was an honor."I still get chills reading that!

Saturday night, September 21st, my Grandma called and told my Daddy that the end was near for Grandpa. He ended up passing away a little after 11:00 that night. We drove down for his funeral Thursday, September 26th. It was really good to see all of my extended family, but wish that we could have done it under better circumstances! His funeral was very nice and a sweet remembrance of him. Here is his obituary. This is a small excerpt.

"E.I. “Buddy” Snodgrass, age 92, of Brady, passed away Saturday, September 21, 2013 in, Brady, Texas. He was born March 31, 1921 in Roby, Texas to Audy Calvin Snodgrass and Bernice (Chance) Snodgrass. He married Mary Imogene Smith on January 26, 1947 in Brady, Texas. He was a Baptist and a dairyman his entire working life. He was involved with 4-H, FFA and sports activities of his children. He was a WW II U.S. Army veteran and a lifelong resident of the area."

The funeral home also did a beautiful video tribute in his honor. The video won't be posted for long, but I wanted to put it up here at least for a little while!

I think we all did a pretty good job of holding it together until the end when it was just the family left to say our goodbyes to Grandpa. We all lost it when my Daddy had to help Grandma walk up to the casket to say goodbye to her husband of 66 years. I will also never forget the sight of my Daddy leaning over Grandpa's casket and giving him the sweetest kiss on the forehead when he said goodbye. Tears stream down my face right now just remembering it!

My grandparents were married for 66 years! What an amazing legacy that it! When they moved my Grandpa into the nursing home, my Grandma went back to their house. She didn't stay the night there though because Grandpa called and said he missed her and he was scared, so she went back and spent the night with him in the nursing home. She didn't leave his side until he left this earth. That's what true love is my friends. "In sickness and in health, till death do us part."

God gave my Grandpa a long, healthy life, and he was with us for 92 years! I know that seems like a long time, but it's never long enough when you lose someone you love. My Grandpa was a man of few words, but his actions spoke louder than his words. He was an honest, hardworking, man who loved his family and wife more than anything. I am so proud to be his granddaughter!

We will never forget you Grandpa and I look forward to the day when we will see each other again in Heaven!

Grandpa & Daddy

Grandpa feeding me ice cream & cake on my 1st birthday!

Thanksgiving 2010



Thanksgiving 2012, meeting Abigail for the 1st time!

Abigail's 1st Big Boo Boo!

Well, it finally happened! We were at my parent's last weekend and Bryan was taking Abigail upstairs to change her diaper. Abigail is obsessed with stairs and LOVES climbing up and down them (with supervision of course). She doesn't get to do this at our house, but since we were at my parents we let her a few times. She started to go upstairs and accidentally slipped and fell. She bit her lip and hit it on the stairs. She immediately started crying and so Bryan picked her up. It was then that we saw the blood. It was EVERYWHERE! We raced to the kitchen to clean her up and assess the damage. Thankfully, once we got her cleaned up we could see that she didn't do any serious damage. She just had a big, fat, lip! Poor baby! Bryan raced to the grocery store to buy her some popsicles and she had about 4 of them that day! Don't worry, they were sugar free! ;) She was a really good sport though. Mommy and Daddy were definitely more scared than she was. Seeing tons of blood coming from your child will certainly scare the pants off you though!

When we got home, I took a picture of her boo boo. Bryan saw me and said, "You're going to blog about this aren't you?" I told him yes! I had to document it on the blog! ;) I'm glad that she didn't do any more damage and I certainly don't want to see blood on my baby anytime in the near future! Here's to staying boo boo free!