With tears, memories and more love than could ever be expressed in writing, our family would like to let you all know that Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, Great-Grandpa Don was welcomed into eternity yesterday at 6:45pm.

Grandpa was quite literally surrounded on all sides as he took his last breath in this world. He woke from his coma and locked gaze with Grandma for the last two minutes of his life. And then, in an instant, went from seeing her face to seeing the very face of Jesus. 

We are so thankful that we all got to be together in his final weeks, days, hours and seconds.  More than that, we are thankful that he was never alone.

As you can imagine, the grief is heavy and the tears are plentiful. But today, we woke to new mercies as we do every morning. We live in the tension of the beauty and the pain, the laughter and the sorrow, the gratitude and the longing. But isn't that how all of life is? It's that messy middle, that holy ground.

And if we are standing on holy ground...then just imagine the ground that Grandpa is standing on.

Go rest high, sweet Grandpa.