After a While, Crocodile

 We lost a good one last week.  Papa passed away.  

When I first met Papa, he welcomed me right away.  We had only met once by the time Kevin and I were engaged, but that's because we were engaged only a month after we met.  One thing I could tell right away about Papa, he loved his family.  He did anything and everything he could for every one of them if it was within his power.  Once I got to know him better, I figured out we were a lot alike in one aspect, we both had no patience.  

There are stories of Papa being angry at the store clerk, or the pizza boy, or anything in general that took too long and didn't turn out the way he wanted.  I shared this trait with him.  Papa and I would be angry at the pizza being so late and then being wrong, while everyone else just enjoyed the pizza once it came.  Nana would share a story of how he embarrassed her at the store because he threw a fit, and I would tell him I would've done the same thing.  He also didn't have time to say bye on the phone.  I remember trying to get out the last bit of what I was saying, so I could hang up on him first.  I barely ever won.  :)

We traveled this last week to be with Nana, Brian, and Paula after his passing.  It was hard sharing stories about Papa around the table because he loved just sitting there listening to everyone carry on.  He also had a computer screen saver that would show past pictures randomly which I think was painful for us all to watch while we were there.  I'm sure the grieving will be a long time coming.  There's so much more to say, but this is all I can do right now.

Nana, Kevin, the kids and I went to the crematory to pray for Papa at his time.  When we were leaving, I paused by the window and said, "Bye, Papa."  I could almost hear a phone click.  

Papa didn't say bye, but he would say, "See you later, alligator!"  

After a while, Papa.  We love you and miss you terribly.