Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

Dear Granddaughter #1,

I just mailed a package to you. It was a little more $$ to get it to you faster, so I sprung for the extra change. I hope it fits. I think the guy put a small instead of a medium and I did not realize it. It looks plentiful in size. I hope it works for you, but either way, I do want you to let me know. It will keep you nice and warm.  I know it is hot now, but within a few weeks it gets cold, especially up by the mountains where you are located.

I also sent a letter with Glen’s address and phone number as per your request. When I spoke to him last month he was so delighted to hear you may be contacting him to learn more about your dad. I thought about some thing you may want to know about your father.  I have had quite a number of conversations with him over the years. I do miss him and I know that he loved you with all of his heart.  He thought you are the best thing to happen to him in his life. He was strong in his values. What he believed was unflappable.  He was very personable. He had a nice one on one personality. He liked to talk to people on an individual basis.  He would always say how beautiful Rachel is and how much he enjoyed you.

He was a reformed alcoholic but never did drugs.  He was very proud of the fact that he kicked the alcohol and did everything in his power to stay clean. He hated the thought of booze entering his life again in any way.

Your dad did not believe in drugs and never did any.  He was dedicated to his job and felt he was doing well for the people in his police community.  He stuck to what it was that he felt he had to do.  He just set about doing it.  He was strong mentally and physically. He believed in God totally and absolutely.  He turned to God and Christianity to survive.  He felt strongly that God was guiding him. He was not ready to die. God took him for a reason I do not know or can’t even guess.

I do know one thing for sure, if your dad could sit across the table from you he would be so proud of you and what you are becoming as well as your beauty would take his breath away. I have often thought since he passed that he would be ever hopeful that you would see the same light he has seen. Your father was very intelligent in his approach to life.

You are lovely and wonderful, capable, able and important. I know that and I hope you know it, too.

I think you will love moving on through school and being done with that era. You have grown away from that kind of education.  YOU are going to have to be willing to have some stress and some deadlines to meet, but the end results of satisfaction will override the means to the end.  You are like your father in this respect, if you want it you will do it and you will not stop until you get there. What he wanted for you was to have you learn as many positive things about life as you can, as any parent wants and he would want you to remember him in an encouraging way. He would want you to tell your children about him being a confident and strong-minded person and tell them how much he loved you. He would especially want to be remembered. He would never want you to forget him and he would want you to do some special things in his honor and in his memory.

Love, Grandma