Unexpected Death

The unexpected death was the hardest. When my grandfather died it felt like the universe had lost something big. He taught me to love the forest and the importance of taking care of it. He was a tall physically strong man, a retired army officer. He and my grandmother used to hop onto military transport planes (many years ago) and fly wherever the planes were going. Turkey was one of their favorite countries. I had a deep ache to explore the world learned from them. When my grandfather died, it was utterly unexpected and hit me like a ton of bricks. I kinda believed he would never die. He seemed so invincible! As a young American soldier who was fluent in German, he was part of the 42nd Rainbow Division and was a liberator of the concentration camp at Dachau. I threw myself into getting my dad and my grandmother through the funeral. I needed a focus desperately. The day of the funeral with full military honors, it was sleeting out. Miserable weather for a miserable day. But, upon waking the next morning, the world was covered in deep pure white snow. For this girl living her life in the south, this was an incredible gift! It screamed, “Live! Play!” I rushed my kids out to buy snow clothes and sleds. It was like my grandfather told God, “I order you to send an early snowfall!” My grandmother laughed with tremendous joy watching us hurl ourselves down the hill behind her house. Life just didn’t just go on it needed to be thrown down a snow covered hillside with snow shoved into places too personal to mention!