Letter May 29 2016

Caleb:

I hope all is well with you.  tonight we are getting our first real thunderstorm of the season.  I like spring thunderstorms.

On Friday, May 27, Grandpa Gibbons passed-away.  He lived a wonderful life and remains one of the greatest men I've ever known or known of.  Attached is his obituary. I was able to visit him several times before he died and enjoyed my time with him.  The first time I stopped by, he indicated that he was done with Lewiston and would likely never return there in this life.  He was resigned to that fact and wasn't bitter or sad.  He simply stated it as a fact.

One of the other times I was there, Jason Gibbons' family stopped by.  They had done a lot for Grandma and Grandpa over the later years of their life and were close to them as a result.  Jason refuses to take them to church and so Grandpa and Grandma had taken them every Sunday morning for years.  The girls wept openly and so did Grandpa.  After they were gone, Grandpa called me into his room and wanted to assure me that he and Grandma loved me as much as them, but they were closer to them because of proximity and circumstance.  It was a tender moment.

Remember the golf cart we had?  You probably remember that I bought one for Grandpa as well.  When he knew his health was failing, he called uncle Gary down and wanted to discuss the disposition of his remaining assets and basically he had one asset in mind... his red golf cart.  He told Gary that even though I bought the gold cart for him, he would like it to stay in Lewiston and be available for family to use when they come to visit the farm.  Then he told Gary to get my dad to ask me if that would be okay.

A few days later, Dad and I were together and he asked if there was anything I wanted from Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I deflected and so Dad asked me if it was okay if the golf cart stayed in Lewiston to fulfill Grandpa's wishes.  Of course I told him it was fine.  The golf cart make me think of you and the fun you had as a kid driving the golf cart around on the front yard and then you and me doing your paper route and finally you selling the golf cart and then wanting a commission for the sale.  Great memories for me...

Have a great week.  I love you,

Dad