Ups and Downs

Its amazing how quickly life can change.

Two weeks ago I was at Wellesley, happy about the day we got off because of the blizzard and loving the two and a half feet of snow covering my windows. That weekend was happy and wonderful and spontaneous and full of lots of fun.

This weekend I am home. Normally that would be a great thing, but this trip was rather unexpected and unasked for. A week ago Thursday my grandpa fell out of bed and broke his hip. He had surgery Friday morning, and just wasn't able to recover fully. They took him off of all of the monitors and everything so he could be comfortable, and on Sunday afternoon he passed away. This week has been hard in many ways. It was mostly hard being away from my family. Even though I knew it would mean missing class and getting behind, I knew that I had to come home.

It has been amazing to be able to spend time with my family, especially because I didn't expect to see them again until this summer. One of my favorite parts has been hearing stories about my grandpa, many of which I've never heard before. For example, when the game Monopoly first came out his family couldn't afford to buy it, so he borrowed his neighbor's game and replicated all of the pieces so he would have his own. He also helped start a potato processing plant in North Dakota, which I thought was pretty cool.

Mostly I knew my grandpa as a missionary. For most of their adult lives my grandparents lived in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Cameroon. I've always loved hearing the stories about how he would hunt wild boars and hippos, how he helped start radio stations and built schools and delivered a baby or two when he had to. My grandpa was an amazing man, and I've loved this opportunity to learn more about his incredible life.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say. I just wanted those of you who keep up with my blog to know what's going on in my life. And my family and I would still definitely appreciate your prayers!