Saying goodbye

Today we said goodbye to Grandfather Robenalt. John was honored to be a pallbearer, but I'm sure it was not the easiest thing to do. The visitation last night drew quite a crowd-- the room was pretty full for four straight hours while we were there. It was a true testament to how much he impacted the community and so many lives within it. Of course, many in attendance were family, but there were others who had been touched by his life in other ways. John remarked that even the sandwich lady from the Kewpie came to pay her respects. Nancy seemed to be holding up pretty well.

It was a fitting day for a funeral today-- steady rain most of the day. Charlie was a pretty good little boy during the service, although I did take him outside to run around during parts of it. He was very proud to show off to everyone that "Daddy has a tie just like me!" It was the first time we had dressed him up with a clip on tie. At the cemetery, Charlie remarked that the gun salute was "really loud" but he dealt with it surprisingly well.

I reflected at the cemetery on my own grandfathers' passing, since they were both veterans of WWII as well. The military salutes always make me teary eyed. After the final words at the gravesite, we stopped at Grandmother Toska's grave as well. Then we enjoyed some nice time with family at the country club before driving back home.

Goodbye John Alton Robenalt. You will be missed.