Granddaddy

Today is the one year anniversary of the passing of one of the greatest people I have been fortunate to have in my life. This is what I wrote a year ago, just an hour after he left us:

May 8^th has never held any significance for me. It’s not a birthday of anyone I hold dear. It’s not a holiday. It’s not quite the end of school. It’s not the mark of a new season. I don’t remember any significant events from May 8^ths in the past. Today changed that. Starting at 6:03 pm today, May 8^th became a day that I will remember forever. It is the day that I will always celebrate the life of my granddaddy, Joe Wammack. The first time I have experienced the loss of a grandparent. My first experience of watching someone suffer until the end of an amazing, fulfilling, and awe inspiring life. No regrets. No sadness. Ready, set, he went. He went to be with his sons. To be with his parents. Went to be with his Savior. He went home. He left a family that made him more proud and joyous than anything else on this earth. He said "see you later" to twelve of his blood that are changed because of him. Hundreds, maybe thousands of others that were inspired to greatness by this one man. I could not be more grateful that I had this man for twenty glorious years. To learn from him. To love him and be loved by him. This world will not be the same without him, but is better for having him in it.