legendary

well, today marks the 11th anniversary of the death of my grandpa. on april 9, 2001, the outdoors lost a conservationists, my dad lost his dad, and i lost my best friend. i was thinking earlier today about life, death, and things in general. although i know that everybody dies, it just didnt seem to me that my grandpa could ever die. once he did, the fact that im going to someday lose my mom and dad became very real. death is a bittersweet thing. sweet for my grandpa because he gets to be reunited with my grandma who hadnt seen in 9 years. bitter for us because we lost him. i know that noone is perfect, but in my eyes he was/is. to me, he was God-like. he accomplished quite a bit in his 79 years. he was at pearl harbor where he survived the attack on december 7, 1941. he accompanied admiral byrd on the infamous south pole expedition, he invented the pod for bowhunting, he came to know and befriend fred bear and many other outdoor enthusiests, he battled leukemia for thirty years, and he was a college graduate of ole miss and was an optometrist. above all of this, he would be quick to tell you his biggest accomplishment was his family. he was always proud of all of us. he sacrificed and did everything in his power to help everyone in his family achieve our goals. he was my hero, my grandpa, my best friend. he is missed daily, but i know he is watching out over us with grandma and smiling down on how well his whole family is doing. i think whoever wants to become a great man, they would do well to look at him and the way he lead his life and follow that example. i fall way short most of the time but i hope to get there someday. ill leave you with the lyrics to this song we played at his funeral. i think this bout sums it up.                                              If you don't get in the water you're never gonna learn to swim
He said a snake is just as scared of you as you are of him
He could tell by the moon when the fish would bite
Seems there was nothing that he didn't know
And as a kid I believed 'cause Grandpa told me so

He talked Daddy into letting me have my first car
I thought I was really something 'til Becky Thompson broke my heart
That first taste of love nearly did me in
Getting over her slow
And I knew someday I would 'cause Grandpa told me so

He said life is made for you to live
The best love is the love that you give
There'll be times when you wanna hold on but you gotta let go
And I live by those words 'cause Grandpa told me so

I promissed him I wouldn't cry when it was his time to leave
That's the only promise I made him I couldn't keep
He smiled from his bed and said we'll meet again
Somewhere down the road
And I believe 'cause Grandpa told me so

He said life is made for you to live
The best love is the love that you give
There'll be times when you wanna hold on but you gotta let go
And I live by those words 'cause Grandpa told me so

He said life is made for you to live
The best love is the love that you give
There'll be times when you wanna hold on but you gotta let go
And I live by those words 'cause Grandpa told me so