Goodbye

Goodbyes are always hard, especially when death makes them necessary. We'll be saying goodbye to Miss Mouse's Great Grandpa Don this week. He passed away Monday night. We are thankful that he got the opportunity to know the Mouse. I wish she would be old enough to remember him, but we have many pictures and memories to use to explain to her what a wonderful person he was. It was very special to be at the circus with him last week - he liked to make a clicking noise with his mouth to make Miss Mouse smile, and, boy, last week she was grinning and giggling every time he did it. He made it through a heart attack, open heart surgery, a stroke, and hip surgery, among other things, and outlived all well-meant medical 'predictions' by about 15 years. We are thankful for that 'extra' time we had with him, but we will still miss him. He was a big-hearted husband, dad, grandpa, great grandpa, farmer and rancher, and friend to everyone he met (and it seemed like he knew the entire state). We will all miss him.