Grandpa Benz

Grandpa Benz and Cale-his first time meeting him.

It's been kind of a whirlwind of a week. Grandpa Benz passed away last Saturday morning. We were all surprised and very saddened by the news. This was so surreal for me-I have been so blessed to have had 30 years with all of my grandparents with them all still living. So to lose the first one hit me hard. We headed to Illinois on Sunday and the funeral was on Monday. The service was beautiful-dad and Uncle Dale sang Amazing Grace with their guitars and lots of beautiful words were shared by Pastor Paul. My dad wrote an amazing eulogy in honor of grandpa and asked me to read it at the service. I was so honored that he asked and that I got to share those great memories of Grandpa. I have a peace and a joy in knowing that he is up in heaven right now, pain free, and maybe even dancing with Jesus or knowing him, he's probably playing an instrument while others dance! His faith is one of the things I will remember most about him. Although I am happy knowing where he is, I am still saddened that he is gone.



There are so many memories of grandpa:

His "pull my finger" trick

Waking us up in the morning with that crazy horn he had

What a joy it was to be able to go out and work in his tool shed-I think I felt like I was pretty cool when I got to do that

Playing croquet in the backyard

Tractor rides

Countless hours on the go cart

Fishing in the pond

Checking out the vegetable/fruit gardens

His blue dickie one piece outfits he used to always wear

His jokes and tricks he used to try to play on us

His laugh and smile

His love for the Lord

His willingness to do anything for us if we needed it-he was always saying to me and Jeff "Now if you guys need anything, you just let us know."

His excitement over the birth of his first great grandson Cale and the joy it brought him to visit with Cale

Grandpa, I love you and will tresure the memories we have with you. So thankful to know you are in heaven and that I will see you again someday.