In Memory of Grandpa Sam

Today we had memorial services for my husband's father. We will miss him. Sammie was always one to say thank you. He also never held back on telling us how much we meant to him, and how much he loved us. I am thankful for the life of dear Sammie.

Here are my husband's words about his father from today's service:

Today, we gather to remember the life of my father, Sammie. He lived sixty-five years and twenty-eight days on this earth. His descendents include a daughter and a son, as well as four grandchildren. For most of my life, he was a weather observer for the National Weather Service. He could tell you the different types of clouds and how high up they were. He could fill and deploy a weather balloon, and he could track it with a parabolic dish at least twice the size of the satellite dish outside this church building. He knew a little bit how to play the guitar. He knew a little French, some Spanish, as well as a smidgen of Yupik Eskimo. He has lived in England, at least seven of the United States (including Alaska), as well as the Bahamas.

He taught me a great many things many of which have helped me become the great know-it-all that I am today. These include fundamental electronics, how a four-stroke engine works, and how a two-stroke engine works. He taught me the basic concepts behind nuclear fission, and how it compares to nuclear fusion. He explained black holes, pulsars, and other stellar phenomenon to me, as well as how things orbit the earth or the sun. He explained how metal detectors work, and how lie detectors work.

Incidentally, back when it was being drawn, “Calvin and Hobbes” was one of my favorite comic strips, but whenever Calvin would ask his dad one of those questions that little boys always ask their dad (usually regarding how something works), his dad would make up a crazy answer when he didn’t know the real answer (which was most of the time). I felt sorry for Calvin, because when I was a little kid, my dad, seemed to know everything that there was to know, and was pretty good at explaining to me anything I wanted to know. Considering what I do for a living these days, I am very grateful for his patient tutoring.

At times like this (with the death of someone important in our lives) most of us spend at least a little time pondering our own mortality. We might make a mental list of our accomplishments, and try to consider, to whatever extent possible, what sort of difference we have made in this life. Even for people who are not interested in the recognition or acclaim of their peers, most of us can’t help but wonder, at some point, and to some degree, if we have lived up to whatever potential we were born with. It’s times like this that I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the nature of that potential. I know who I am, why I am here, and where I am going. I know that I am a child of God. I know that I am here on this earth to receive a physical body, to make covenants with Heavenly Father, and most importantly, to help others. I also know that by following God’s plan of salvation, I can return to live with Him again. I also know that I have not seen my father for the last time. Thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, my father’s spirit will once again be reunited with his body, overcoming death. I don’t know how my father will spend his eternities; it’s not my place to judge my father’s life. I can’t say how his outlook may change once he realizes that his existence has not ended with his death. We are taught that everyone will get a true chance to accept the gospel, of Jesus Christ. I leave it to God to say who has had a chance in this life, and who has not.

I am thankful that I know my Heavenly Father, because I know that Heavenly Father is full of love, and not someone who is eager to condemn. He wants what is best for us.