Dang-Dang

It has taken a great deal for me to post this. I couldn't decide if I wanted to just write all of this for me and my family or just put it all out there. I decided on the latter for a couple of  reasons. Number 1-I want you to really know me-not just me as a teacher-but me as a person. Number 2- my grandfather was an AMAZING man-why wouldn't I want to share him with all of you?!?! Soooooo...here goes....

A LOT has happened since the last time I blogged. At the beginning of December, I talked about Christmas being the most wonderful time of the year and how much I LOVE Christmas! While I still LOVE Christmas, there is now a connection with Christmas that will always be extremely hard for me. My wonderful grandfather, Harry Cook-who we endearingly called Dang-Dang, went to be with The Lord on Wednesday December 11, 2013. I just want to share with you a little bit of his amazing life.

1. He was one of the most incredible men I have ever met. He was a man of love, humor, and integrity.  And I'm going to tell you this-He loved Jesus. Almost every single memory I have of him is leading our family and church in worship and prayer.

2. First and foremost, he loved Jesus. But secondly, he loved his family more than anything else. This is a picture of Dang-Dang with our oldest, Emma Lou- who is named after his wife, Patty Lou (but we called her Granny-and I am here to tell you-Granny and I were so so close...but that is another story for another day). His love for his family was the most important part of his life. Every year we have our family reunion-and this could possibly be Dang-Dang's favorite time of the year! He LOVED visiting with family-especially all of his family from out of town. He loved hearing the laughter of everyone around and reminiscing of times past. One of my most favorite memories of family reunions is visiting with Dang-Dang's brothers and sisters and hearing stories of when they were younger. Dang-Dang was a twin and was extremely close to his brother-and man oh man-have I heard stories of them from their WILD teenage years! 

3. He loved to sing. One of my favorite stories that my mom has shared with me is that when she was growing up, she and her sister and their 2 brothers would all decorate the Christmas tree. As soon as they were finished, they would turn the lights in the room off and turn the lights on the tree on and they would sing Christmas carols. Once they were through singing Christmas carols, they would run outside to see what the tree looked like from the road. His favorite Christmas carol was Silent Night and they would sing it EVERY year.

These are only a few things about my grandfather that make him special....but these are my favorite things about him.