An unusual post...

I'm not one to post a mushy or emotional blog, but sitting at work today, I just had a flood of memories come back to me and I wanted to share some of them. A friend and I were talking about November for some reason, and talking about all the things that happen in that month. For us, we have Carrie's birthday, my mom's birthday, Thanksgiving, among many other things. When I returned to my desk, I happened to glance at the picture of Pa that's on my desk (he passed away in November). It was taken the last time he spoke at our church. He's sitting in a wheel chair, in his suit, right outside the front doors of our church, holding some notes and a book, maybe a bible. It was given to me by a good friend from church. I immediately thought of how Pa loved hymns. When he came to church and we sang, he couldn't stand up with us to sing, but he would look out the window and he looked so peaceful. Or he would look up towards heaven and sing or hum along with us. And when church was over, he made the rounds to speak to everyone he could. Either he went to them, or they came to him. He was one of those folks that would make you feel special with a simple "Hello."
And wow, what a contagious laugh he had! It was loud and fun and I knew whenever I heard him laugh, it must have been funny. I especially remember hearing him laugh at the jokes Aunt Grace (his aunt) would send. And I remember his sneeze and his yawn. His sneeze could be heard a mile away, maybe more! His yawn was always loud, no matter what. I always wondered why, but it was just his way of doing it.
It's just strange the way memories creep up on you. These are all wonderful memories, and at first, I may've been a little teary eyed, but reminded myself that he's in a better place, and he's still watching us, laughing with us, singing with us, sneezing and yawning loudly, doing his own thing.