Grampy… what a good name.
// September 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // tagged: Family > funeral > grampy
Hayden Lacy was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend. I’m sure each of you here today has something to share about how he touched your life. But for me … and Mark … and Glenda and Steve and Sarah. He was just Grampy.
It’s a little hard right now to imagine life without Grampy. He and Grandmother have always … been there. At every birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4th, and other random holidays … every band concert, church play, graduation, wedding, every moving day. And on so many other days in between … Grampy has been a constant presence and influence in my life.
When I was a little girl, I spent many many nights down at Grandmother and Grampy’s. One of my favorite activities was playing hair dresser. With Grampy. As only a grandfather would do … he let me put rollers in his hair. Maybe that’s why his hair was always so wavy – from the years of rollers I put on him as a child! We would also have story time where Grampy would make up stories as he went along … he would finish telling a story and I would ask “and then what happens??” He would think a few seconds, and then make up the next part of the story.
I’ve spent the night at Grandmother and Grampy’s every single Christmas Eve of my life … even after I got married. That was part of the deal when Steve married me – you marry me, you get to spend the night down there. (and I think he enjoys it just as much as I do!) My brother and I were both in our late twenties before they stopped getting up in the middle of the night to play Santa and fill the stockings. We all have special places to sit on Christmas morning … mine has always been on the floor, in front of Grampy (a prime spot for Mark to throw things at).
When Steve and I bought our first house in Nashville, we were a bit overwhelmed by the 3 acres of land the house was on. So Grandmother and Grampy came out and helped us figure out what to do with it – and they worked out in the yard with us – probably harder than we did! Grampy always came prepared to help us with whatever project we were working on at the time.
When Mom and Dad moved a few years ago, Grampy and I spent a whole day steaming and peeling some very stubborn hideous pink flowered wallpaper off one of the bedrooms. And we had fun doing it… just laughing and talking all day.
Grampy’s brother, Jasper, lives up in Chicago and hasn’t been well enough to travel for the past few years. Last year, we setup a webcam on Grandmother’s computer and since then just about every other weekend, my 90 year old Grampy and his 95 year old brother would video-chat on skype. It took about 10 minutes to setup … but Grampy – well – he was just so thankful and couldn’t believe something like that was possible and free! For weeks afterward, he mentioned it every time we talked. He was so appreciative of everything anyone did for him. No matter how small.
So many lunches, dinners and homemade ice-cream gatherings down at their house … every single one beginning with prayer. Grampy’s faith was a visible thing to everyone who knew him. He lived out his faith every day in word and deed. He was a leader in his church and his community, he helped those who needed it… he encouraged those around him…
I have learned so many things from Grampy. He has instilled what I’ll call some core values:
Integrity / Respect – Everyone respected Grampy. To know him – was to love and respect him. Last night during visitation, so many people said how much they respected Grampy and what a fine man man he was. He lived a life full of honesty and integrity. He wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong and he would tell the truth … even when telling the truth was hard.
Time – Grampy always had time for us. Clearly shown by his presence in practically every important moment of our lives. But he was also there for the “unimportant” moments — lazy Saturday afternoons just sitting around talking. Summer mornings breaking beans. Planting trees in their yard last November. Just chatting on the phone about nothing. A lot of evenings I call and talk to Grandmother and Grampy during my commute home – from the time I pulled out of the garage at my office to the time I pulled in my garage at home. We would talk about work, church, school, how all our plants were doing in the garden … anything and everything. It was all important to him.
Wisdom – Like my Dad, Grampy was one of those men who always knew what the right thing was to do (and how to fix pretty much anything that broke!) How blessed our family has been to have such strong men of faith and character in our lives.
Laughter – I think Mark and I got much of our sense of humor and fun from Grampy. He was always telling jokes, pulling pranks… he knew how to have fun in life… how to appreciate the good and move past the bad.
Power – as in … power tools. When Mark and I were kids, Grampy had us out in the garage with him learning how to use jigsaws, belt sanders and drill presses. We were always building things. Driving tractors. He taught me not to be afraid of trying anything.
Love – Grampy loved my Grandmother with all that he was throughout their 66 years of marriage. He never forgot birthdays or anniversaries – and made the effort to show how much he loved her. In the last few months … he always wanted her close. Sunday morning, grandmother and I were in the kitchen talking and she said that Grampy had said recently “you do so much for me … you take such good care of me … how can I show you how much I love you?” — and that she asked him if she remembered their wedding vows from 66 years ago… “caring for each other in sickness and in health”. They exemplified the best of a loving christian marriage. Loving each other, loving their family, loving God and serving Him, building a life together, having fun with each other … being each others best friend.
Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches”. Grampy. What a good name. I am privileged to share Grampy’s last name as my first name – Lacy. What an honor to carry that good name… I hope I can be half as strong of character and faith as he was.
Thank you for being here with us today as we celebrate Grampy’s life and the incredible legacy he has left behind. A legacy of kindness and humility, of serving God and his community… a legacy of love and devotion to his family.
