Fred Wise, my Grandpa.

I started this post a few months back and never got around to finishing it. It's a moment that I will cherish forever and decided that it is seriously time to write it down somewhere before I lose my memory or something. So here it goes..

On May 5th of last year (2011), my dear grandpa, Fred Wise, passed away. He was one of a kind and an absolutely amazing man and example. He cared so much about all of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Honestly, I could go on forever about how wonderful he was. Forever. Because he really was that wonderful. Before Grandpa passed away, I had the opportunity to stay the night with him and my grandma a couple times a week. Usually Grandpa would help Grandma get ready for bed, but he was becoming too ill to take care of her like he used to. That's why I would stay there; to get Grandma ready for bed and to make sure Grandpa was comfortable. One morning I woke up, got them their breakfast, and then got ready for school. I was getting ready to leave so I kissed Grandma and said goodbye. Then I went to Grandpa, kissed his cheek and said goodbye. But I honestly felt something different in that goodbye. So as I walked away, I turned back to look at Grandpa and he looked at me then blew me a kiss. In my heart I knew that would be the last time I would see him. And it was. He passed away later that day.

I will never ever forget the last time I saw my Grandpa Fred and that sweet kiss he blew me. And I will never ever ever forget how he never failed to make me feel so incredibly loved.

Grandpa had a love for Abraham Lincoln and his famous speech, The Gettysburg Address. For as long as I can remember, he encouraged all of his grandchildren to memorize that speech and even promised to give us $50 if we could recite it from memory for the family on the Fourth of July. Forever I would start to memorize the speech and either give up or lose interest. After my mission I decided that if I could learn a foreign language, I could easily make my grandpa proud by memorizing a short meaningful speech for him. It was the beginning of February when I made the decision to memorize the speech. Because Grandpa Fred's birthday is February 19, I decided that I would recite the Gettysburg Address for him as his birthday present. I went over it again and again everyday until I finally had it down perfectly. During Grandpa's birthday party, I brought him with me into the office, and I recited the speech for him. He looked at me with proud eyes and had the biggest smile on his face. When I finished, he complimented me and said he would get me my "well-deserved $50," but I replied, "No Grandpa, I don't want the money, that was your birthday present!" He gave me the sweetest hug then held the back of my neck (his signature move) and told me that was his favorite birthday present. I'm so grateful that I was able to share that with him for his birthday, because he was gone before the Fourth of July.

Grandpa Fred will forever be one of my greatest examples in life. In my eyes he did everything right. I love him, and I miss him like crazy. But I have memories such as these and many more that I will keep close to my heart for the rest of my life.