I LOVE Grandpa Finlayson

I often complain about how long a day or a week has been. I don’t think I’ve ever really understood how long a week could last…and it’s only Thursday. The week started out well. Brent and Tami were visiting with their kids, I was hanging out a lot with my guy friends, Ashley and I went shopping on Monday morning…but things quickly went south. We found out early Monday afternoon that Grandpa Finlayson passed away. What a shock. Even surrounded by family it was a struggle. I have always felt so close to Grandma and Grandpa Finlayson as I have spent a lot of time with them: going on vacations with them, living with them for a couple weeks, and for a time I was seeing them more than the rest of the family. For over the past year and a half I have seen Grandma and Grandpa Finlayson every single month (except for March of this year).

Grandpa Finlayson was such an incredible man. Born in 1930 he had 3 sisters who used to “torture” him. I can definitely understand that (but obviously with brothers). He loved to swim and he was a fantastic diver. He served his mission in New England. He also served as an intelligence officer in Germany and various parts of Europe. He was a brilliant man who went on to get his PhD from Northwestern. He became a nuclear physicist and consulted with NASA (?...Aerospace, nuclear reactor stuff) and various companies throughout his life. At one point he learned to fly airplanes and he used to fly himself and grandma until, from what I understand, there was a particularly nasty landing in fog. Grandma and Grandpa were world travelers and enjoyed seeing new places. And they had such wonderful stories of their travels and exploits. One of my favorites was hearing of when they were dating. Grandpa talked grandma into calling in sick at work to go to a dance. At the dance Grandma ran into her boss! So funny.

Grandpa was the most generous person I have ever known. He was so giving and always looking to help others. While at college I would receive more notes and cards from grandma and grandpa than I would from my parents. They would give me money to treat myself at various holidays and birthdays. They helped pay for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. With their graduation present I was able to go on a study abroad to Europe. I know I was definitely not the only person as well. He continually donated to various causes (I’m counting his grandchildren as several…;) ).

There is so much one could say about him. I’m not gonna say he was perfect…his driving often scared me. He would either go incredibly slow, or much faster than appropriate. While driving his “cussing” consisted of “That was a dirty trick” and “oh you bum” and “How could you?” in addition to others. But he was always willing to help anyone out. He once filled up my suburban which clicked the gas off at $100. That was a happy day and Grandpa was pretty astonished that we hit the limit.

I loved when he and grandma would find something funny. His slow grin always made me so happy to see. About a week and a half ago we went out to BJ’s for Andrew’s graduation ceremony and I was sitting next to Grandpa. At one point everyone was talking about who would pay. (Dad did) Grandpa wanted to pay but I turned to Grandpa and I said, “Grandpa you are so awesome and giving…let someone else pay…but seriously you’re awesome!” And he smiled that smile I love. He was really so amazing.

Seriously I could go on, but this post is getting long. I love grandpa and will always hold a place in my heart for him. I can’t wait till I see him again. I already miss him so much.