Sophie's Great-Grandpa

My grandpa lives in a home in Simi Valley, and since my parents moved to Texas about six months ago, I have been making an effort to visit him every week. Most weeks I go he doesn't know who I am, and I usually just end up talking to myself. But once in a while he knows who I am and I know that he is happy to see me. About a month ago I took Sophie to meet her great-grandpa and it happened to be on one of the days that grandpa was totally with it. It was so exciting to see how much joy she brought him. She made him so happy that day and I was able to make him laugh when I told him about how much she drools, how she rolls all over the house and about how stinky her diapers are!! He really got a kick out of that. About two weeks ago I went to visit him by myself on a Monday and he was half-asleep and didn't want a visitor so I told him that I would be back in a few days. Well the week flew by and suddenly it was Sunday and I hadn't been back to visit him. I felt bad, but didn't really want to go because I was supposed to give a talk in church that day and was really stressed out. But I went anyways. I am so glad I did. I walked in the door and grandpa immediately knew who I was. We ended up talking for about 30 minutes and I was able to have a real conversation with him. It was probably the most I've talked to him in my whole life and it was really great. We talked about his days in the military, about the turkey dinners he used to make us with this gross stuff called rutabagas (probably spelled wrong), about what a good dad I had and how he can be proud that he raised such a good son, we talked about Sophie, about Conni's kids in Texas. He thought it was funny when I told him that Claire screams when my dad babysits her. He was happy to hear that Bryce got into BYU Idaho and was happy to hear about James and Malinda's baby on the way. I couldn't believe what a great conversation we had. I also found out that he doesn't like James Bond movies, he much prefers westerns, and John Wayne is his favorite cowboy actor. He is not a big fan of Clint Eastwood I found out. I drove home that day so thrilled that I was able to talk to grandpa. I've never really had much of a relationship with him, but I know he is a good man because he raised my dad who is probably the best man I know (besides Rob of course). What a blessing it has been for me to be able to provide service to this man who was a loving father to my dad.