Always Remembering ...

Yesterday marked a year without my Pop, (who was really our Pop, their Dad, their Great Grandfather and her Husband).  So grateful for:

• My Nan who speaks her heart each and every time I call, while I do my darnedest to answer in the best "totally not crying" voice I can.
• My Aunt and Uncle and Cousin who live close by (to my Nan) and are there for her each and every day.
• My Cousin's child who lets my Nan dote on a Great Grandchild and relive her many years as a caring Mother to young ones.  I love to hear her current stories.
• A reconnection with another Cousin, that has allowed my memories of us as children (which weren't at all bad) to be pushed aside and filled with new ones.  Such as meeting, chatting, visiting, he and my son sharing the same birthday, Facebook messages, admiration for the awesome "making it look easy" Father that he is and happiness that he landed a super awesome woman as his wife.
• The crystal platter that sits (still in it's bubble wrap) on my dresser, right next to a "had to get" piece of artwork from a town that means so much to my family.
• Dad telling me he was going to call Nan on Sunday too.
• Video, photos and memories.  And a blogging friend that made photos at funerals OK in my book.
• A cemetery burial, it's all I've ever seen and I'm grateful for the closure it allows.
• The lessons I have learnt and can learn from my Pop.

Sad and happily grateful all at once.