The One with Remembering Grandpa Ted

My Grandpa Ted, or Grandpa Tedder the Gooder and Better as we so fondly called him, passed away yesterday. How do you even being to pay tribute to one of the greatest men ever to live? As my mom and I were crying on the phone yesterday we both agreed, we don't have a single bad memory of him. Every memory is loving, endearing, funny, and basically perfect. This post may be all over the place, but I just want to get my thoughts down, it's my coping mechanism. This is my first family death. I was barely 10 when my last great grandparent died and didn't really understand. I am so lucky to have gotten to know all of my relatives including all four grandparents over the last 29 years. What a special gift! It was/is so wonderful having all four grandparents live in the same city of Provo Utah where I lived for 6 years. I even lived with the Warners for nearly 2 years! Every Sunday Chris and my cousins and their roommates and my brother and I and others would gather at the Warners house for lunch. It was the best of times and I will forever cherish those memories.

This is Grandpa's favorite picture of himself. There are copies of it all over their home. He was a proud soldier!

When recounting his war stories as a jumper he would always start, "There I was, prop blast in my face..." I love his collection of medals. I see the US Army 82nd Airborne AA insignia all around here in Grafenwöhr. Reminds me of my Grandpa :)

Both of my grandpas were part of an elite "club" at BYU called the Brickers. Grandpa Ted is the hoot on the far right. What a guy! So funny! And my other grandpa (Grandpa John) is the guy on the far left bottom. So funny to have both grandpas in one photo!

Throughout his life he would say phrases and anecdotes and songs and jokes and do tricks over and over and over and over. These were eventually coined "Tedderisms" and I wish I had the document where I saved all of them to turn them into books for one of his birthdays at the request of his three daughters. 

Oh Grandpa. What a unique and special person! Always smiling. Always happy.

He has three daughters. Katy (right), Cissy (left), and my mom, Carolyn (middle). They are the apple of his eye and he loves them so much.

I am so glad that Fox and Jane were able to meet him, even though they probably won't remember him, I made sure to get pictures for their scrapbooks. This is why scrapbooking is so important! Here's Fox when he was just a little guy and his Great Grandpa Ted. Grandpa would always say, "Who is you?!" in a cute voice to Fox. And then he'd tell us we'd need to have about a dozen more cuz he was so cute :)

And here's Jane over the 4th of July weekend last year with Great Grandpa Ted, two days before we moved to Germany. The last time I ever saw him. How quickly he deteriorated physically and mentally after this. Just one year later. But, I will always remember him like this, happy and spritely!

Grandpa and Grandma at our wedding in Nauvoo, IL.

Grandma Doris. She has taken care of Grandpa Ted and been his constant companion for over 50 years. Grandpa always said, "I only wish I'd married her when I was 15!". They met and got engaged on the first date. My Grandma has been blogging stories about their courtship and life on her blog called EIGHTY SOMETHING. They are such interesting stories to read!

I got the travel bug from the Warners. Grandpa was a history professor at BYU and traveled ALL OVER THE WORLD all of the time! Which means my mom has been all over the world because she tagged along. Name a place, they've probably been there. They especially loved to go to China. They went on an LDS couples mission to Nauvoo and Madrid Spain where I visited and stayed with them for a week while I was living in London for 4 months in the summer of 2005. They went on Mediterranean and Panama cruises recently, have been to all of their grandchildren's weddings across the country, and were always on the go. Thank you Warners for having a zest for life and desire to see the world!

These pictures hurt my heart and make me smile at the same time.

He was the best dad, brother, father, husband, grandpa, great grandpa, uncle, son, nephew, teacher, mentor, and more that there ever was.

Look at this beautiful family he created! And there are about seven more people not pictured yet because of marriages and births that took place since this was taken on the 4th of July five years ago.

Dear Grandpa Tedder the Gooder and Better. You are already so missed! But I know you are in heaven with your parents and siblings and doing a happy dance to be free of your mortal body! Love you. Miss you. Until we meet again!