Early in the morning on October 9, 2008 I received a very sad phone call. My father-in-law had passed away. He will be greatly missed. He was an incredible man, full of love and acceptance for everyone. He did a great job of raising his children, and I was blessed enough to marry one of his sons. From the moment I first met him he showed great love and caring for me. I remember how he showed up at the hospital after our first baby was born. He had a special arrangement of flowers for me and a stuffed puppy for Anton. He was thrilled to have a new grandson and wanted to make sure that we were doing all right.
He visited us at least once a week, always wanting to take us out to lunch and spend time playing with his grandson. When we would visit him his face always lit up with joy upon seeing his son and grandsons. He always thanked me for bringing his boys to see him. He loved playing with Anton and Zackary and holding them, singing songs to them.
I remember one time, shortly after Anton was born, I had gone back to work and Linden was working out of town. He came to my work on an errand from Linden. Linden had given him some money to buy me some flowers because he knew I was having a hard time going back to work and having Linden gone. How grateful I was to see him and know that I had help. How wonderful that Linden learned such love and generosity from his father, because he truly taught his children about love and giving.
He had a love for knowledge. He was always reading about history and architecture and birds and so many other things. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a tremendous amount of patience, and a quiet, gentle manner.
What a privilege it was to have him in my life for the few years that I did. How wonderful it would be to have him here to see his grandsons grow and learn. We will deeply miss you, Dad and Grandpa. Thanks for your great example.
He visited us at least once a week, always wanting to take us out to lunch and spend time playing with his grandson. When we would visit him his face always lit up with joy upon seeing his son and grandsons. He always thanked me for bringing his boys to see him. He loved playing with Anton and Zackary and holding them, singing songs to them.
I remember one time, shortly after Anton was born, I had gone back to work and Linden was working out of town. He came to my work on an errand from Linden. Linden had given him some money to buy me some flowers because he knew I was having a hard time going back to work and having Linden gone. How grateful I was to see him and know that I had help. How wonderful that Linden learned such love and generosity from his father, because he truly taught his children about love and giving.
He had a love for knowledge. He was always reading about history and architecture and birds and so many other things. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a tremendous amount of patience, and a quiet, gentle manner.
What a privilege it was to have him in my life for the few years that I did. How wonderful it would be to have him here to see his grandsons grow and learn. We will deeply miss you, Dad and Grandpa. Thanks for your great example.
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