I must admit that it has been a bittersweet Chirstmas for my family and I. As many of you may or may not know, my Pawpaw, Larry Dulin Sr. went home to be with our Lord on Christmas Eve. It has been a week of preparing ourselves for the difficult news and events to follow. I wish I could put into words all the emotions that have been felt these past couple of days. It has been a time of sorrow and joy all wrapped up in one long roller coaster ride. You see, we first got news of my Pawpaw being diagnosed with cancer last Monday night, and within a weeks time, he is now gone. I have spent most of my time thinking of my Mammaw and the pain she must endure within the upcoming weeks. Jeremy and I will have been married for seven years this upcoming February. I can only imagine the pain she must feel to no longer have her husband and best friend right by her side. This literally breaks my heart and it is my prayer that God will give her the strength to make it through this. My Pawpaw always called my Mammaw shug. I can hear him right now..."I love you Shug". I have recalled stories that my Pappaw would tell over and over again and can hear his laughter and little snort that he always had. No one could tell stories quite like my Pawpaw. He has a way of drawing you in and I am blessed in the fact that my son, James, inherited some of those traits. I think about the 30 years I have had to spend with my Pawpaw and getting to know him. What an honor it has been. He is a humble man, and never in my life have I ever met someone as hardworking and knowledgable as he. He would bend over backwords for his family and friends. There is no denying that. As the days pass, his presence will be missed. My family has cried and laughed and laughed and cried. There is no replacing him, but we can all rejoice in fact that he is in Heaven and no longer suffering. He was reunited with his son, John, on Christmas Eve and I can only imagine what Christmas must have been like for the both of them. Ohh what a birthday party that must have been! To see our Savior and Lord face to face! We can also rejoice in the fact, that as believers ourself, we will get to see our Pawpaw's sweet face again!
My pawpaw was a jokestar and as we gathered down at our Pawpaw and Mammaws house on Christmas Eve, like we do every year, he was going to make his presence known. Yes, this was hard, and yes our family fought back the tears, but it was good getting to spend time with my family as we paid tribute to my Pawpaw's life. There were no presents wrapped under the tree that said to Anne from Larry or vice versa. I guess my grandparents had told one another not to get any gifts for themselves, but if you know my Pawpaw, he would do anything to make his Shug happy. After our family filled up on food and the gifts were passed out to the grandkids...there was one last gift. It was a gift from my Pawpaw to my Mammaw. My Mammaw took the gift and the tears imediately filled her eyes and she read the gift tag. The room became silent and all eyes were fixed upon her. She slowly started un wrapping and before you know it she finally made her way to her prized pocession. Nope...thats not like my Pawpaw. It was a gift inside of another gift. There was more unwapping to be done. My Mammaws hands were fragile as she handled the perfectly wrapped gift and she slowly started to open the next. She had to have a little help from my Aunt Cindi. They both cut into the paper and what we all thought was going to be her gift was another gift wrapped box inside the other. You couldn't help but laugh and cry all at the same time. My Pawpaw had made his presence known. Finally my Mammaw made her way through the final gift wrap and as she slowly opened what would be her final Chirtsmas gift from my Pawpaw, her heart was filled with joy. It was a BEAUTIFUL gold diamond ring. My Mammaw slipped onto her small and fragile finger and gazed upon it for awhile. It was simply perfect, just like his love for her.
Pawpaw you will be missed, but never forgotten! You are loved more then you could possibly know and I am blessed to have had you in my life.
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