We love you Pa!

I suppose I should begin this entry by letting you all know that my dear sweet grandfather, Blaine Bradshaw passed away early this Monday morning.

His health had been failing him in recent weeks, but he lived 92 long years of a meaningful exemplary life here on Earth. He will surely be missed, but I can tell you he was so ready to go, his beautiful wife, my lovely grandmother Pauline Bradshaw had passed away almost nine years ago, and I know he was anxious to get back to her, among the rest of his large family that were all waiting for him.

I could go on and on about Pa. But if there’s one thing I don’t want to leave out, it’s that he knew what it meant to love people unconditionally, and I want to be more like him.

Some of the things I will treasure the most include…

•His buttermilk pancakes – no one cooks them like he did! Delicious!
•His genuine interest and knowledge about what was going on in my life – for a man with 20 plus grand kids, he would always ask me about how swimming and water polo and piano were going while I was growing up.
•His phone calls after a long drive home – Pa just had some sort of vision of the second we’d be walking in the door back to our home in HB after a visit with him in Arizona. The phone would ring and he would be checking on us to make sure we made it home safe.
•His obsession with being on time, no, EARLY to everything. I am a bit like him in this way, I am never late, and I hate being late, Pa always would be the first one to arrive to an event, and not just by a couple minutes but plenty of time to spare, like 30 of them!
•His baking! Not only could he make pancakes, but his cookies and spud nuts, were all gobbled up the minute they came out of the oven.
•The endless supply of ice cream. Every time we’d visit Arizona, the supply of ice cream did not disappoint, and he’d give us kids all the sweets we wanted!
•His beautiful singing voice
•His warm hugs
•The prayer he gave at our wedding – something I will remember and cherish always.
•His ability to forgive and forget.
•His love for the Savior
•That he bought almost all of my groceries while I was in college, as he sent $50 every month to all of his grand kids in college. He called it his $50 club!
•His respect for everyone around him.
•His smile
•His testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
•His driving! Oh man – talk about a cautious driver! He drove so slow, it drove us crazy! But I’ll treasure those memories of him just keeping us safe.
•His ability to endure, as he did, to the end, graciously, gratefully and with a smile.

I look forward to seeing him again someday and find so much comfort in the knowledge that we are an eternal family.

I love you Pa!

A couple pictures I thought were special...

Pa giving me a kiss on my wedding day

Pa giving my mom a kiss on her wedding day.

My Nana and Pa - We miss you both!