Grandpa Linn

This weekend my sweet Grandfather passed away. This was not something that we were anticipating, but luckily he went quickly and without any pain. I have been so lucky to have the most wonderful Grandparents and I will miss my Grandfather immensely.
Since hearing of his passing early Saturday morning, I have been reflecting on the great man that was my Grandfather.

Growing up, my Grandpa was always supportive and loving. He always had a bit of trouble hearing us and since we were young and did not quite understand this. I am sure that we did not make it easy for him to understand us, but he would always sit and listen and nod.

He was always fixing something and was very handy around the house. He practically built his house in Los Altos Hills by himself. If you ever needed help with a project you could be sure that Grandpa knew how to fix it.

I remember knowing this as a small child, when my parents ran over my tricycle (I left it behind the car.) Grandpa fixed it, because he was magical like that.

He did little things that we would think were great fun, like putting the swing in the big oak tree in the backyard, and getting fireworks for the 4th of July.

I remember Grandpa taking a prom picture that I gave him and scanning it and blowing it up. He cropped it so that it was just me in the picture and framed it. That picture sat on the desk in the Los Altos home for a while and it always made me smile and laugh.

Since Grandpa was the Patriarch of the home he always performed the duties like carving the turkey on Thanksgiving. I would always stand right next to him waiting for him to sneak me a piece. Grandpa always ate the drum stick. I am not sure if he liked it or if he knew no one else wanted it.

Grandpa always drove this beat up old Audi. He would frequently take trips to Home Depot for all his projects. I would tag along some times. You would have thought that he had a truck. He would roll down the windows and stuff would hang out.

I was on my mission in Houston when I received an email from my dad that Grandpa wanted to be baptized. Here I was sitting in the library bawling like a baby. It was one of the most wonderful things that happened to me on my mission. I was not able to be a the baptism (I had one of my own that day.) After my return , I was able to be at my Grandparents sealing which was a huge blessing.

Since Steve and I moved to Utah, one of the greatest blessings has been for us to be able to get to know my sweet grandparents so much better.

Grandpa, I love and miss you. Your years of quietly teaching us by your example have not been in vain. We all admire the person that you were and are and will remember you always.