Grandpa Waterhouse

My Grandpa Waterhouse died at 4am on Thursday, March 24th. Since then I've been reflecting on how incredibly generous he was and how many life experiences I have to thank him for: my first car, a brand new Toyota 4 Runner that is still in the family 15 years later; 6 months studying abroad in Sydney, Australia; the ability to quit my job and move to Denver only two weeks after the idea got into my head; attending grad school at Denver Seminary full-time without having to work; earning a Master's in Leadership that I use on a daily basis in my dream job. Denver. Where I met Mark... thanks Grandpa. For everything. 

His most recent generous gift was the reason we called to thank him that Monday afternoon in late January. My mom, Mark and I all hovered around the speaker phone as it rang, we could hear in his voice the second he said hello that he wasn't doing well. 

What's wrong?
Oh, I have some pain on my side.
Which side?
My right
Isn't that the side your appendix is on?
Yes
How long has the pain lasted?
Oh, I'd imagine about three days now. Dad, you need to get to the hospital, you probably have appendicitis
No, no, I'm just going to sweat it out a little longer, I think I can kick this thing.
Tell him Mark
Paul, she's right. You need to go to the ER right away
I think it's gotten a little bit better
Paul. You appendix has probably already burst, providing you a bit of relief, but now you have poison cursing through your body, you need to get to the ER NOW.
Well, okay, if you think so Doc.

That's my grandpa, a stubborn son of a gun. His 92 year old friend came to pick him up to take him to the ER. What a sight that must have been. Sure enough his appendix had already burst. The doctors took him to surgery, which he did fine in at 89 years old. It was the complications that were relentless and finally what he died of two months later.

Here we are celebrating his 85th birthday a couple of years ago on his beautiful 26 acre property in Wheeling, West Virginia. He would have turned 90 in May, only days away from Ava's due date. One family member leaves this world as another one enters it. Life is so interesting that way. My grandpa will be missed by his two children; my mom Paula and my Uncle Mark, and his grandchildren; my brother John-Christian, my cousin Jill and I, and unmet by his great grandchildren; Ava for one, who knows how many more. But one thing's for sure, they will know of his generosity and will benefit from it as we all have. That is his legacy.