Goodbye Grandpa Walker

On July 6th, 2010 my Grandpa Walker passed away. He had been ill for a very long time and after many falls and other problems, he was in a lot of pain. Thankfully, he passed away peacefully in his sleep and is now free from pain and is looking down on us from heaven.

Grandpa was a Navy Veteran, Methodist Minister, and he even worked for the F.B.I. for a time as well, but I will remember him as a fun-loving Grandpa who loved his grandchildren. He loved to tell corny jokes that he lovingly passed down to my Dad, who also tells them to this day!

Here is a picture of Grandpa reading me a story when I was 9 months old.

My recent memories of Grandpa were when he came to visit us to see his great grandchildren. When Josiah was almost 5 months old, he and Grandma came to visit us in our apartment in Liberty Lake (Spokane area) and they both had to climb a steep flight of stairs to get to our place. It was hard for him to get up the stairs, but slowly and surely he made it up there. The minute he got inside, he sat on the sofa and stretched his arms out as far as they could go and said with a wide grin, "Let me hold my great grandson!" Due to some of his ailments, it was hard to tell at times what Grandpa was feeling or thinking, but it was quite clear this day that he was very, very thrilled!!

He is holding Caleb here back in 2008 when he and Grandma came to visit over the Fourth of July.

And he also got to hold Daniel as well! I am very glad he got to see the twins as this was the first and last time he was able to meet them.

Josiah and Grandpa were playing with the cars here and likely Grandpa was telling one of his many jokes or words of wisdom to Josiah as well.

Though it was very sad that Grandpa wasn't with us anymore, it was really wonderful to reunite the Walker clan again. It had been many, many years since most all the family had gathered in one place. After the memorial service, we all ate lunch together at a local restaurant in the Tri-Cities. My mom also brought many pictures to share and I was able later on to scan them in and share them with the family on Facebook.

Grandma brought a collage of many pictures of Grandpa and the family to the service and here she is taking them off her board and returning them to her albums while she chats with my Aunt Diane. My cousin Sarah also had her son Michael with her and he and Naomi were having fun getting acquainted on the blanket we had on the floor of Grandma's apartment as we all visited.

My Uncle Jim and everyone else enjoyed seeing Naomi and Josiah who were able to come with me to the service. David stayed home with the twins as it would have been hard for us all to come at this time.

I was thankful to be able to come and celebrate Grandpa's life and to see everyone as well! Goodbye Grandpa Walker, you are missed and we look forward to you greeting us when we meet someday again in heaven!