RIP Grandpa

It was my mother-in-law who told me my grandpa had passed away.

Andrew and I were just getting ready for bed—I had even checked facebook before I shut down my computer and there was no news from anybody yet—when Karen came upstairs and asked if my grandpa had died.

"I don't know," I said.

"Well, Kelli just posted 'RIP Grandpa,'" she informed me, "So I think he has. I'm sorry."

"Oh, okay," I said, "Thanks."

And that's about how emotional I felt about it. I suppose it's because part of me has already grieved and the part of me that hasn't knows that there will be time for that later on, and also because we've been expecting it for a while. It comes more as a relief than as a surprise. I think surprise deaths are more difficult to handle.

He died last night shortly before midnight, which was excellent timing on his part because it was my mom's birthday on Monday and it was my dad's birthday today. How thoughtful of him to die between their birthdays instead of on their birthdays.

Now we're all preparing for the funeral full swing. Before we were making tentative plans because you can never tell, really, how long death is going to linger. I'm glad it didn't linger longer than it had to. We've been scanning pictures and making plans and so forth.

This morning I told Rachel that Grandpa Layton had died and she got much more emotional than I did, though much of her emotion was curiosity about how exactly the spirit separates from the body and then how they come back together during the resurrection. I told her that I simply didn't know and that we don't have to know everything.

Anyway, I feel like I've written a lot about my grandpa in the past. Here are some of the posts I've written about him:

A Living Eulogy
My Grandpas Share a Birthday
Layton Family Christmas Party
Layton Reunion
Flashback Friday: Grandpa Layton

And one more...from the future...about his funeral:

Grandpa Layton's Funeral

And here's one that my sister Abra wrote about him:

Grandparents

For her sake, I'll include this picture, because I think this is the picture she's talking about:

I remember getting it, too (circa 1991).

And here's another one from their younger-older years. I think it was either before or during the time my grandma had braces on which is why her smile's not as big as it is in the later picture. I can't even tell if this is the 70s or 80s.

Believe it or not, there is still more to say about my grandpa. Like, I don't think I've mentioned once that he's a twin. Or that he started his own drywall business. Or that he once crawled in the crib with a fussy baby and slept there all night (and he is not a man small of stature).

But for now, I'll just think about what to write and write more later when I have more pictures. That will be more fun, won't it. I'll always regret not being curious enough about my grandparents until it's too late. I need to be more curious about my grandma now. She's the only grandparent I have left.