Clyde Eugene Fry.....my Pop

When I was a little kid, the most horrible thing that I could ever possibly imagine, was one of my grandparents dying. Well, today it happened. We lost my Pop. It's a lot worse, but at the same time, a lot better than I had imagined.

Before I get into that, let me say a little bit about Pop. He was fantastic. My mom and I are both only children, so I was his only grandchild. My mom would leave me with him as a newborn when she and my grandma would go run errands, she said he was one of the only people she trusted with me when I was so little. I practically grew up at Pop and Grandma's house. Pop and I were constantly getting into trouble....the good kind of trouble....that when I think about now, makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. We would mix up gross concoctions in the kitchen and dare each other to eat them. We would make space ships out of refrigerator boxes and pretend to be aliens. We did a lot of fishing together when I was little. Pop taught me how to swim. My mind is flooding with about a gojillion memories of him right now. Like the time he and Grandma took me, Carmen, Rachel and Julie to Panama City Beach, all of the camping trips that we went on, and dancing with him at my wedding. We always left each other with our special pinky kiss.

When he was younger he was a fantastic baseball and football player. But instead of trying his luck in the major leagues, he decided to go to chiropractic college. He helped thousands of patients feel better during his career. He literally saw patients until the day he died. Actually, he treated one this morning, so I guess it would be more appropriate to say that he saw patients until he died.

(*Can I just say that this death thing is still a very abstract concept in my head. I'm not even close to grasping what has happened. I keep typing and every few minutes I stop and think, "What in the world is going on here? How can Pop be gone?")

I am thankful that I got to see him, hold his hand, and kiss his forehead at the hospital, even though he was already gone. I even got to give him one last pinky kiss.

So back to the "a lot worse and a lot better" thing. This is by far the most traumatic experience I have been through in my life...and it hurts my heart to know that this is not the last time it will happen. I'm struggling with the notion of waking up tomorrow to the reality that Pop is, in fact, gone and that this hasn't been a dream. I'm struggling with the idea that someone so full of life and so seemingly healthy could just die. It makes me sad that my grandma will be alone after 53 years with Pop. I really want to just camp out in her house and be there to hug her at any given moment.

Now let me end with the "a lot better" part. POP IS WITH JESUS! How cool is that? And guess what.....I'm going to see him again! Sadly, I didn't realize until today just how thankful I am for salvation. Not only my salvation, but the salvation of the ones that I love so much. Of course, I've always been grateful that Jesus went to the cross for me, but today the reality of it all and the magnitude of it all hit me like a truck. Thank you, Jesus for dying on that cross, so that someday I can see my Pop again and spend eternity in the glory of Your presence.

Pop hated country music, but this song by Brad Pasley is just amazing, and in my estimation, it is what he's experiencing right now, and what I will someday experience.....

When I get where I'm going

on the far side of the sky.

The first thing that I'm gonna do

Is spread my wings and fly.

I'm gonna land beside a lion,

and run my fingers through his mane.

Or I might find out what it's like

To ride a drop of rain.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

there'll be only happy tears.

I will shed the sins and struggles,

I have carried all these years.

And I'll leave my heart wide open,

I will love and have no fear.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,

and he'll match me step for step,

and I'll tell him how I missed him,

every minute since he left.

Then I'll hug his neck.

So much pain and so much darkness,

in this world we stumble through.

All these questions, I can't answer,

so much work to do.

But when I get where I'm going,

and I see my Maker's face.

I'll stand forever in the light,

of His amazing grace.