First we had Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt Gloria's house, where I got to meet my littlest cousin for the first time. She immediately stole my heart! Meet Michalina:
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| Michalina is the cutest |
The next day we visited my brother Chris & sister-in-law Kate, and took my nieces Christmas shopping. They have five dogs in their house! Three of them managed to sit still long enough for a picture:
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| Chloe |
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| Layla |
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| Jackson |
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| Cozy fire |
Isabelle picked out a Lego set for Christmas and Jade chose a new backpack.
Throughout my time in Connecticut I learned a few things about Papa that I didn't already know. As it turns out, the rest of us have a lot to live up to if we hope emulate his life of service, sacrifice and abundant generosity and love. Almost everything he did was either for his country, or his family. He received two purple hearts for his service in World War II. And he trained to be a paratrooper! I'm so proud to be his granddaughter. Here's a picture of us being really cool:
The funeral took place in the little town of Townshend, Vermont. He was buried with full military honors. Watching two young Marines fold up the American flag and present it to my uncle Michael was definitely one of the most touching moments of the burial for me. The other was listening to this young man play Taps:
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| Semper fi. |
Overall it was a wonderful trip. We all pledged to get together more frequently... and being the quintessential family man that he was, I think that's exactly what Papa would have wanted.
