I wrote this post shortly after my grandpa passed away. It's something that I feel very strongly about, but it needed time for me to finish grieving and complete the process. Today is a day for thanks and family. It's a day to share.
Family is not defined by blood.
The older I get, the more I recognize that my pedigree is really just a bunch of lines and shapes that describe genetic links.
My Grandpa Bockholt passed away recently and his passing is huge to me and I did not have a drop of his blood in my body.
He married my dad's mom after she divorced my Grandpa Tate. My dad, like many kids, spent most of his childhood with his mother and summers/occasional visits with his dad. Because of that, my dad and my Grandpa Bockholt had a lot of similarities and they even looked alike.
I am lucky to have three sets of grandparents and I'm lucky my grandma married him. Even after my grandma passed away (when I was like two) I still saw him regularly.
Like my father, my grandpa was SO happy-always laughing and joking. He was an active grandparent, reaching out to us in the ways that fit us best.
I remember one time when I was in high school, he played video games with my little brother. My grandfather had to be in his late 70's or early 80's, working that gray Playstation controller with some familiarity.
Without such a good, happy man in my life or in this world--things seem a little more sad, like my father's passing on a smaller scale.
I'm so grateful for his presence and influence in my father's and my life. I know my father wouldn't have been the great dad he was without him and I know that I would not push so hard in my life to provide that same kind of happiness for my family.
Joy, love and laughter create a family, not bloodlines and cards sent out once a year.
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| Like I said, always smiling. Heroic. |
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