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Monday, November 19, 2012

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday, my family said goodbye to an incredible man.  Vovo (Portuguese for grandfather), as the grandchildren lovingly, adoringly called him.  We are all sad and tearful, but we are also relieved and experiencing a sense of joy and excitement for him.  He was tired.  He was 94 and in the last year had experienced some significant physical changes that limited his independence.  He missed his wife, who he said goodbye to unexpectedly 10 years ago.

However, sad and miserable these things were to him, he never gave in to bitterness or resentment or "woe is me."  He carried on strong and steady in his faith, in his hobbies, and in his relationships with his family and friends.  He brought humor and lightheartedness to most every situation.  He remained a lifelong learner and pursuer of knowledge.  He loved crossword puzzles and intellectual conversation.  Every gift I have received from him in the past few years has been a book on some intriguing and mind-growing topic.  He cared about his family deeply and always obliged his granddaughter's (six of us) requests for pictures and dancing.  He lived his entire married life answering to the name "Cow" because in my grandmother's thick Portuguese accent she could not, for the life of her, pronounce the "r" in his name to say Carl.  He was devoted, kind, patient, enduring, steadfast, thoughtful, and in all things, practical.

A month ago, he chose to accept Hospice care.  He did this with full mental capacity and a readiness to "let nature take its course."  He humorously referred to his death and this final stage of his life as "his project" and would routinely ask the hospice staff, "how am I doing on my project?"  Well, his project is complete now and his family is left to continue on this journey of life without him.  As my dad said, "He set the bar very high for us to follow in our own lives and our gratitude for his presence in our lives is boundless.  We firmly believe that he will soon be with his wife and, more importantly, with God. We are firm in our conviction that death is not a finality but a stepping from one plane of existence to another, much better one."

Thank you Vovo.  I love you.






6 comments:

Unknown said...

I will be always grateful to God and to Suzana who have introduced me to this wonderful man and his family. While I lived in Miami, Carl was my reference, my guiding angel, my "guru" as I called him and a dad figure. He was also a very sweet man and treated me and my young daughter as if we were family. I will NEVER forget that.
So glad my daughter and I were able to call him this month and said how much we cared for the 50th time!
The world misses a wonderful person but heavens is happier with him. Glad he is there with dearest Lia and talking to my mom now...

Laura said...

Lindsey, this was beautiful. I was telling Evie the other day how your grandparents were such a part of my childhood and I loved them dearly. What sweet, funny, and special people they both were. I know the feeling of loss and sadness when you lose a grandparent, but what a blessing to know that he's with his Creator and he had 94 years on this earth. Love you Breedon/Bosshardt families!

Anonymous said...

Linds, this was beautifully written. You captured him so well! Thank you for this :)

Anonymous said...

I'm wiping tears, so well written! He was so special! He became VoVo to the Garner kids early on too! Such a sweet spirited man.. He left a great legacy! and now, rejoicing in Heaven!

posted by.. Suzanne Garner

Anonymous said...

April read this to me tonight ......and I just started to cry. We were honored to know him as VoVo too! He will be missed.

Donna Almand

Wilson Halder said...

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