paw paw.

I want to apologize for the few posts this week, and take this opportunity to introduce some of you to a pretty awesome fella.

This last Saturday evening, my Paw Paw passed away. He's been feeling a few of the effects of old age the last two or so years now, but his final decline came and went pretty quickly. I want so badly for all of you who didn't know him to understand just how precious and wonderful this guy was and how much he meant to my family.

It's hard to explain to people that your grandfather is gone...and then explain to them that you weren't actually related to him by blood in the first place. It's hard because people think you're overreacting during the loss of a "family friend." It's hard because people are confused as to how you can be so upset. It's hard, mostly, because I've never had to defend the love or relationship our families have. But please hear me: This man, his wife and theirs are and will always be my family.

It's hard to quantify how much I love them...or justify why I do...but I think you should know that I saw my Maw Maw and Paw Paw every single day of the week but Saturday from the time I was six weeks old until the day I turned 16. Technically, yes, they are "neighbors." But I have honestly never thought of them that way or lived a day in my life that they were not a part of. They're just my Maw Maw and Paw Paw.

They came to every graduation. To every birthday. To every grandparents' day at school. My brother's and my senior pictures are hanging on their living room wall. I spend Christmas Eve with them every year. I sit with them at church every Sunday when I'm at home. They saw all of my plays and recitals. They saw all of my victories and helped me when I stumbled. They raised me to be strong and sweet and caring and giving. They're the most selfless people I've ever had the pleasure of loving. And they are both, in every imaginable way, my grandparents.

That being said, I really wish you all could have known Paw Paw LeRoy "Jack" Hull. He was just about the coolest guy I've ever known. He was a real cowboy. Like...for real! The hat, the boots, the bolo tie, the 'tude -- the real mccoy! He was our personal Texas Ranger. A man's man who was strong as an ox, smart as a whistle and as sweet as the candies he'd always carry around.

He was raised with absolutely nothing, served our country in two wars and was married to the sweetest woman in the world, Christine, for 52 years. If ever you need a picture of a marriage filled with selfless, unending and Godly love, look to them. The last time I saw them together was this passed August and they were still perfectly in love. He was a cross between John Wayne and Bill Cosby -- crazy cool, devilishly good-looking and madly in love with his wife.

Paw Paw was such a gentleman but he had the mouth of a sailor...if he needed to. (Looking for an example? Ask William about the one time he got run over by a car and Paw Paw nearly literally chewed the head off the guy who did it. Thinking of that story reminds me that I should also tell you that he could run fast...if ya ran over his grandchildren.) He loved eating and times of fellowship. He was hilarious and he loved to celebrate! He gave the greatest hugs and always made you feel welcome. He'd go out of his way to show you he loved you...and he never let William or me feel like anything but his own.

Part of the way Paw Paw would make you feel welcome was by talking to ya....a lot. That man could talk for hours, about anything! And, boy, he experienced enough in his life to have an anecdote for everything, so he was a wonderful (but long-winded) storyteller. If you'd sit with him for a little while, he'd tell you about his children, and grandchildren and great grandchildren. If you sat with him a little while longer, he'd tell ya about how he use to work at the river mill and growing up in Texas and how he got his name "Jack" from his dog with the same name (apparently, he always came when they called the dog). And if ya sit with him long enough, he'd start talking about the war and great books he was reading.

Paw Paw loved to read. And my favorite memory of him is when I would find him reading his Bible at the kitchen counter. I asked him once when I was younger how many times he'd read it, and he simply said he'd lost count. (That frustrated me so, back then, because I wanted to hear a quantifiable number so badly! Little did I know how impressive not knowing was, after all.) And then he encouraged me to read mine, too. And that's always stuck with me -- his desire to know the Lord and how earnestly he wanted us to know Him, too, by leading us by example. Don't get me wrong, he was stubborn and could get frustrated like anyone else. But his faith was strong in the Lord and everyone around him knew it.

Without a shadow of a doubt, that's what has gotten me, my family and my Maw Maw through this last week. Yes, it is certainly hard, and almost unbelievable, to live in a world that Paw Paw is not in anymore. And yes, we will all miss him dearly in every moment of every day. But truly, my friend, it takes my breath away to know that he is celebrating with the Lord right now in a new, perfect, painless body and that he was there within an instant of leaving this world. My heart aches because I probably won't get to see him as soon as I thought I would, but my family also knows a comfort and peace like no other as we continue day-to-day in our own lives.

I was able to go home this week to be with my family and Maw Maw. She's a resoundingly strong woman, but I know this is hitting her harder than she probably could have anticipated. She told me this week that after 52 years of marriage that it is just so hard to believe that he is so far away. Please pray for her during this time as she moves into a new phase when, for the first time in my whole life, she has no one to take care of but her self. It will be difficult, but I beg for your support through prayer and time with her (if you have the honor of knowing her).

I was his Katy Coo and he was my Paw Paw. This man has left such a mark on my heart, my character and my view of the world, and I will miss his sweet, precious spirit so incredibly much. I hope now you all know him a little better, and understand how much I was his and he was mine.

Love you, Paw Paw.
katy c.