A Great Man

A little over a week ago, my family lost a great man. This man's name was Jim Flint, Sr. He was my grandfather on my Dad's side. He was soon to be 86 years old, married to the same woman for 64 years, & my grandfather for 29 years. I dearly loved both of my grandfathers, but my "Dadaddy" as all of the grandkids called him, was so very special to me. From the time my mom went back to work from being home with me for the first year, I stayed with my grandparents during the day, until the age when my brother & I could stay at home by ourselves. So, needless to say we have gotten to spend lots of time with my Dad's parents.
Dadaddy was always there for us when we needed a ride to or from school, or when we needed a forgotten homework assignment, or heck, just to be checked out of school (even after Mom said "no"!!!) Yea, that last one got me in trouble a time or two! ;)
Some of my latest & fondest memories of Dadaddy was learning more about his experience in the South Pacific during World War II as a sailor. Yes, he may have told us the same stories over & over (he had alzheimer's), but they were stories he hadn't shared with his family until the last few years of his life. He also talked about his brother who was an Air Force pilot shot down over Germany & was a POW for several years. He liked to talk about his nurse he had while a patient in a hospital overseas. She would bring him coffee & cake every night she was on duty.
Other conversations with Dadaddy were about his twin babies that were born prematurely in 1946. He always said they had a head fully of black, curly hair. That one always brought tears to his eyes. He always would ask me how many kids I was going to have: " 5 or 6? My grandmother had 13." I would always respond, " Oh goodness no! Maybe one more after this." We always went through these stories at LEAST twice every visit! I didn't mind at all though, because I knew one day he wasn't going to be here to share them anymore. WOW, do I wish I could hear them ALL one more time!

Dadaddy & Memaw visiting "newborn" Andie

You know though, my heart only gets sad for a moment, because I know he is in a place at this very moment where he much happier, and much more concerned with things like, oh, SEEING THE FACE OF HIS SAVIOR!!!!! I am so comforted by the fact that he is in the presence of Jesus, and he suffers no more physically or mentally. I am so glad he got to meet Andie & spend time with her! My grandmother told me the day before his stroke he was asking about Andie & the new baby, "she's having a boy this time, isn't she?". I think he was excited about my Dad getting to have a grandson, like he had 4. I want to leave this post with a picture of my Dadaddy. He was awesome, and he leaves a legacy most men would envy. I will miss him every day the rest of my life!

            top pic: Dadaddy & Andie snoozing together when she was about 6 weeks old
                    Bottom pic: Dadaddy & Andie on her 1st Birthday