Coming today to share bittersweet news that my Grandpa Van Etten, my mom's dad, passed away. It's heavy and sad from our earthly perspective, but I am so glad for him that he is rejoicing in Heaven and that we have the eternal hope of seeing him again. He entered Heaven on September 23 and he was 90 years old. He was a wonderful grandpa and we will miss him. We look forward to the glorious day of our Heavenly reunion. It was a blessing to have him for my thirty-five years of life and to know his example of loving Jesus and others well.
We came to Rapid City for the funeral, and it was nice to see lots of extended family as well. Here is a picture from the weekend of the girls with my sweet grandma. It dawned on me in the car on the way to my aunt's house (where this picture was taken) that the next picture we took would be without grandpa. That was a hard realization, but I'm glad that my girls can still know and love Gigi (what all the great grandkids call her).
Family shot after the funeral.
Picking a flower from his beautiful arrangement before his burial. The girls handled the whole weekend really well and we had several good conversations about death, Heaven, and funerals. This was my first grandparent to pass, and Kley has one grandma still living, but his three grandparents passed when the girls were young and they don't really remember much. I'm so glad that all of Kley's grandparents lived until all our girls were born and they got to know them for awhile before they went to Heaven!
Kley was a pall bearer.
In other news, we got to visit my Grandpa Schut (who thankfully lives pretty close to us), in the hospital. He had lots of blood clots in his lungs and it was pretty scary for a bit, but thankfully he is doing better now and they are hoping he can regain more strength to go home. (And update since I first wrote this- he is home now! Glad he could go home. He is getting some help from some home health nurse visits.)
I am so thankful for all of my grandparents! I'm glad my Grandpa Schut is improving, and I'm thankful for the time celebrating and honoring my Grandpa Van Etten. We love you and will miss you, Grandpa!
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