As some of you may know, I recently went to New York. This was not my planned vacation to New York (which is still on, by the way), but rather a sudden and short trip to attend my grandfather’s funeral services and spend time with family. It was actually really great. I got to hear all sorts of stories about my grandfather and his life that I had never heard before, and the whole family and many, many friends came to pay their respects. All the services were very nice, and it was really a great send-off for a great man in my opinion.

Most of all it was really fantastic to spend time with family members. I don’t get to see my extended family very often, obviously due to geography, so I am still kind of coming into my own as an adult in my family. The best thing for me was spending time with my cousins and really getting to know each other, on our own as adults (rather than our parents’ children, which can complicate things no matter how hard you try). I feel really good about that and look forward to more time like that with my cousins.

I don’t really know what is going through my grandmother’s mind (I can’t even to imagine) or what she has planned. I know she has wanted to be in some sort of community or assisted living for quite some time, so maybe she had that planned. Maybe I won’t have a chance to see the house as it is again. With that in mind, I made sure to spend some time in each room, to try to remember things as they were. I’ll get to that in a bit.

First, here are some photos of the house and my grandpa I’ve taken in the past.

The beautiful magnolia, 2004. I desperately need to get a cutting of this tree.

Mary in the garden, 2004

My grandpa in the kitchen, 2004.

Grandpa and I, 2005.

New camera, new shot of Mary, 2005.

In the Okefenokee, 2005.

Georgia Aquarium, 2006.

Family Portrait, 2009.

Decatur Garden Tour, 2009.