There's been a lot, at times, that I haven't cared for from my in-laws.  When Mike and I first got together, well, they were downright mean at times.

Mike's grandfather was never mean.  He never lost his temper with me or the kids.  He was kind.  He treated Russell with love and kindness from the get-go.  He always hugged me good-bye and he called me, "sweetheart."  He did small thoughtful things.  While he never spoke a lot, he usually showed you that he thought the world of you in a small gesture or a kind phrase.  That was just Pop's way of doing things.  I felt like one of his loved grandchildren.  I felt like a princess around him.

In the past few years, he's been in a state of decline.  We were at a casino and he was out of it for lack of a better phrase.  I made a small joke and he asked me to repeat it, so I did.  He clearly didn't get it, even though it wasn't any great feat of wit on my part.  And I wondered.  At a later time, we were visiting him and he seemed a little fuzzy-brained.  He also had a hard time getting around.

At one of Mike's brother's weddings, Mike had to escort him down the aisle to his seat because he couldn't get there on his own.

Today, my parents came to visit.  They gave me a star sapphire ring that my father bought for my grandmother, when he was in Vietnam.  Attached to it was a small note in her writing explaining that fact and that she wanted me to have it.  She knew it was my birth stone.  On top of that, there was a small hair clip with my name on it.  I don't think I normally would put something in my hair at my age, but I did today. I cried when I saw the note about the ring.  I felt the touch of my grandmother's love from across time and I just missed her terribly in that little bit of time.

As my parents got up to leave for the evening, Mike's brother called saying that Pop didn't have much longer and that they didn't expect him to make it through the night.  I guess he passed around midnight our time.  I miss him, too.  I wish sincerely that we could go to say goodbye to him . I always have appreciated Mike's grandparents because I miss mine very much -- Pop, in particular, reminds me a great deal of my mother's father, for whom I named my son.

Tonight, I miss Alice and Lyman.  I'm glad for their peace, though.  It was as if Alice sent that ring with my parents because she knew that today Pop was going to meet her for the first time.

This post is in memory of Alice, and particularly, of Lyman, who both are loved and both of whom made such marks on my life and the lives of others, in ways that others may not see, but in ways I see every single day. May I live up to the high standards they set for me and honor their memories by the way in which I live my life and love others, and of course, the way in which I love both of them.