How many people can say that when they are 32 years old? (by the way, my birthday was Monday)
Well, yesterday afternoon my mom called me to tell me my Grandpa S. passed away in a hospital in Brasil. Even though I haven't seen him in 8 years, and even though he was 91, and even though we had all been expecting this for many years...it didn't make it any easier.
I feel a lot of guilt that I didn't stay in better contact with him. Oh sure, I sent him pictures, I emailed him occasionally, we even spoke on the phone every once in awhile. But this last month I had felt very strongly that I should call him, or email him...and I didn't do it. I even had my mom send me his email address 3 weeks ago (b/c somehow I couldn't find it on my email contacts) but still, I didn't email him. I took for granted that I could always do it "tomorrow". And now it's too late.
I have a lot of good memories of my Grandpa. He used to make a yearly trip up to the states from Brasil to visit all his children/grandchildren. He'd bring us all packets of guarana and the most delicious treats we called bonbons.
He used to do "churrasco" (Brasilian style BBQ) for us, and to this day I have not tasted better steaks than his! He used to tell us to clean our plates at dinner so we could be members of "the clean clate club". He'd also joke around that he was going to take us to the ice cream store so we could sit and watch the other kids eating ice cream. haha!
He was a very successful businessman and knew how to save his money. Even though he never had the opportunity to obtain a college education, he made sure that all his children and grandchildren had the financial opportunity to do so. I owe my college degree, and all the great experiences I had at BYU to him!
Today my boys are wearing their Brasilian t-shirts to honor their great-grandpa they never had the opportunity to meet in this life.
Grandpa reading a book to me and my brother.
