The Passing of Our Grandson

Our oldest grandson passed away on November 11, 2008. He was 16 years old and had Cerebral Palsy. Of the many words I could say about him, and about the courage and faith of my son and daughter-in-law, these words quoted from her blog say it best:

"The wheelchair races have ceased at our home. Our oldest son has gone home to be with His Maker. Although we are sad and left to grieve, we recognize the blessing that he is no doubt happier to be released from a life of special needs, tubes, braces, his wheelchair, and the like. He has finished his race and gone on before us. He was one of those "special" spirits who didn't come to this Earth to learn, but to teach. Even though he never said a word he taught by his example of endurance, stamina, and dealing with adversity the way he did. Many lessons were learned along the way because we were blessed to care for him, such as those dealing with lessons of acceptance, gratitude, love, patience, strength, family, faith, and hope. Along the way we found that even though life can be hard at times, there is still plenty of Joy in the Journey and nothing matters more then Faith, Family & Love. He definitely was loved by those who were blessed to be in his presence and he could laugh with the best of them. His laughter and smiles will be greatly missed. We are better people because he shared our lives. Thank you for the lessons learned-farewell for now. God be with you till we meet again little buddy."

Good bye for now, Zach. We will miss you and look forward to being with you again when it is our time to go.

Love from Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Jim