It is hard to say in words, what a person means to you.
Grandpa Paul, has returned home, to be with his beautiful bride Heather.
I want to remember all of the moments with him. The emails that made me laugh, and the hugs that made me feel loved. Paul has this unique ability to love, unconditionally, non judgmentally. To love us each, no matter what. There is no greater feeling. I think that nearly every time I saw him, he would pull me aside and tell me what a great gal I was, and that I was the best mom to my "little critters" or "little trolls". 
He was a pillar of support, and clarity when it came to Kallin. We would talk at length all of the things that made him different, and an incredibly gifted boy. He constantly told me he couldn't believe how smart Kallin was on the computer and with all the "techy" stuff. "In some cultures, in some native american cultures people with autistic tendencies are held in high regard. They are considered to have better spirits or more than one spirit with them. Many of them became healers and shamans. Kallin is a special young man, he has skills and abilities that I am in awe of and am envious of. In exchange for these special gifts he swapped probably some social skills. Well, some of us do not have fantastic social skills anyway and are not privileged to have special talents in exchange. I am so glad to have a fine young gentleman like Kallin as my great grandson"
We would talk about Corinne, Paul loved Corinne, and he would hold her and talk to her, and spoil her... endlessly. With chocolate and candy even. After I sent him a thank-you email, with a picture of Corinne devouring her chocolate from Christmas, he wrote me..... "Chocolate is a health food: chocolate is made from the cocoa bean. Cocoa beans are a vegetable. Chocolate is a vegetable. Even better: chocolate is made with milk, milk is a dairy product and necessary to support strong bone and tooth development. Most chocolates also include a fruity filling-fruit is good for you. Lastly chocolate often includes nuts which are a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids which lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. (Plant based food has no cholesterol, only animal foods do.) Chocolate is very high in anticarcinogens. Now, you see, chocolate incorporates sever of the essential food groups and has some very positive health effects. I say to sweett Rinnie: eat up, eat all of the chocolate you want."
He marveled as Colette grew, he pictured her as a "little lady" and we would talk about what a level headed beautiful girl she was, and he would remind me, to help her have a little fun every now and again.
"Collette looks so beautiful, sweet and innocent and bright. It brings gladness and sadness to my heart seeing her ready to face the world. It is sad that she has grown so quickly into such a young lady. I am proud of her "
So many memories I wish I could just share in photos....
All in all, I was blessed to have Paul, that he loved me as his own, that he spent so much time typing emails, sending me mail, and talking with me. I am a better gal because this ole man loved me.
"I am so glad to have you as a granddaughter. I have watched you grow into a dang good woman, (still a kid to me), and a fantastic mom."
When I turned 25, Paul sent me a long and wonderful birthday email... and it in he wrote a paragraph about time... and well... it was wonderful...
"Then again, think about what is eternity. Eternity has no beginning and no end. This mortality is something taken out of the context of eternity. Each of us in this mortality has a beginning and an end, it is all we know while we are here. Somewhere along the line, man(woman)kind invented time to define in increments the beginning and end of seasons, (spring goes all the way around to the next spring-a year. Each yearly increment was segmented into months, weeks and days, (daylight to daylight-beginning to end and new beginning). Days broken into hours, etc., etc., ad infinitum.) If you take this mortality and put it back into the text of eternity where there is no beginning and no end time becomes irrelevant. Therefore, in the grand scheme of things you are not 25, you have no age-there is really no such thing. Just a thought for the day."
You again taught me a morsel of wonderful... and you're right... this mortality is short. In just a blink of eternity, I will see you again.
In honor of my 30th Birthday tomorrow, I'm just going to read your birthday email over and over... cause it makes me feel really, really happy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
I just wanted you to know that I love you, you are a wonderful mom to some of the worlds greatest great grandchildren and I a proud to claim you as my grand daughter.
Enjoy your day!
G. Paul
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