Grandpa

It has been more than a month since my grandpa passed on from this life, to his home in Heaven above and I still miss him more than the day he left, everyday it's more. It is hard for me to come up with the words to describe all of the emotions I am feeling. I know that the pain is unbearable for some in my family. I know too that this world, this huge world of millions of people will never truly know or understand what an amazingly generous wise man that my Grandpa was. I know that he loved me. I know that I love him. I know that he would do whatever it took to make sure his family....all of us. 6 children, 18 grandchildren and 26 or so great-grandchildren, have what we need to be happy in life. Especially Food. He loved supplying us with his favorite treats, drinks, and meals.

He was born in 1923. Wow, 60 years before me. An amazing man from humble beginnings and even more humbling ends. His mama had 13 children. He was the "baby" and proudly told me that every chance he had. I believe he said he weighed something like 11 or 12 pounds at birth. She put my 9.5 to shame! :) He repeated the 4th grade,(the actual grade is sketchy, some say 3rd grade, I don't really know) twice. He then quit school at 10 years old, to help his Daddy in his welding shop. He later was drafted in the military, he had so many various odd jobs, I for one, can not keep track. He truly was a jack-of-all-trades. Anything, anything I asked him he had an answer for, most times with all the reasoning in the world, to back up his answer. He was SMART. He married my wonderful Grandma somewhere before that time, and she very quickly became pregnant. Ended up with 6 kids, my mom is the "baby". She too proudly uses the term when referring to herself. :) He spent over 22 years or more in our armed forces. A few years in the Army, the rest in the Air Force. He was a welder during his time in the service. He travelled the world in service to our Country and was always willing to talk about it, for that I am very thankful. Of his six children he said 3 looked like him and 3 looked like Grandma. I always thought that was funny for some reason. He settled here in KS when my mom was 13, all of her siblings were married, had kids and were out of the house by then and so it was just mom and them. He retired. He loved, Loved, LOVED tinkering with and fixing things. One of his favorites cars. Another Clocks. I swear he has a collection of just about anything you can think of. He loved all of his children and grandchildren. He always had time for questions and discipline if we needed it. Lots of lectures, but mostly LOVE.

He was from North Carolina and proudly talked about it. He was raised with little and so provided a lot for a lot of people. His compassion was never-ending. I do believe that some could take advantage, but why? This great man would just help out again in a time of need. He lovingly referred to my Grandma in many different nicknames, I liked "George"and "Charlie" a lot. They truly were an example to me of True Love. I loved hearing his opinion on anything, even though we may not have always agreed, I always took his opinion into consideration. I truly believe he is partly responsible for my life today. He is the one who told me I should be with Bill and that Bill would take care of me. "Bill is a good man for you Crystal." Wow! Yes he is. What a wise and interesting observation. He also helped us adopt Angel. Yes, he helped get the attorney that helped get Angel into our family. I truly belive my Grandfather has a big hand in what I am living today. If I ever was down, I know that Grandpa lived a long enough life that whatever his answers were, they were as spot on as I could get from any other resource on the planet. I did not get the chance to "grow up" with him around, until I was 13, but I always remember them visiting, or us visting and it was always good. He had moonpies, diet rite, "drinks" were all the soda we wanted, candy bars for days, gum balls and gum ball machines, chips, cheez-its, fried chicken, north carolina bbq. I could go on and on. His coleslaw, was the first Bill ever liked. He liked his eggs with a ton of cheese in them. He loved spicy anything, hot sauce was always around, sometimes in his pocket. He had a black book of dates and records, he kept on him at all times. He always had a pen, a flashlight, a pocket knife, and some cash. Even though he didn't need to, if any of his bills were off, or he wasn't charged correctly, he made sure the "stupid idiots" knew. I loved that! I loved listening to his opinion on politics, I still don't know exactly where I do and don't fit in politically but I love to observe and make my own assumptions and opinions, sometimes based on what I have heard from other people. He was one of those peoples opinions I always took into consideration. He was a man of great integrity wisdom, and spirit. He was strong-willed, determined and stead-fast in his beliefs. He truly believed in the Lord and served him greatly. He loved this country and his family. He meant a lot of things to a lot of people. And a negative word, I have heard none of him. He is a Great man, one of the Best, if not the Best I have ever or will ever know.

I am a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful Grandpa. In the last year or so, he got really weak and was in and out of the hospitals, dr's never gave any straight answers or real help to him. He was tired. He didn't want to hurt anymore. He talked a lot about his pain and didn't understand why it wouldn't go a way. He was diabetic and had congestive heart failure. We did not want him to hurt anymore, but we Did NOT want to see him go. I was going to make him dinner, excuse me supper, the day he passed. Southern fried fish and chips was his request. I made it the next night and shared it with Grandma and the rest of the family. Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper are the 3 meals a day according to Grandpa. I got to sit with him in the hospital on several occasions, just me and Grandpa talking about all sorts of things. Weather, back when he was a kid, how my kids were doing, his health, our country, the times we are living in, what he sees he never thought he would. In that time, I got to thank him. :) Thank you Grandpa for always being willing to help me out. Thank you Grandpa for telling me you thought Bill was the one for me. Thank you Grandpa for helping us have Angel as our daughter. Thank you Grandpa for always being strong and determined and yourself. I love you and miss you dearly Grandpa, I hope and pray that your legacy can live on through the rest of us that you left here. I am sure you will be hearing more Grandpa stories from me and seeing more pictures of this wonderful man. Love you!

Wooodrow Wilson Brantley

September 22, 1923 - July 18 2009