"He lived every moment and left nothing to chance."

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It has been a week and a half now since my Grandfather, Richard W. Mann Sr. (known as Grampy to the grandkids) past away. I'm dedicating this blog entry to him.

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Fishing with Gramps!



Grampy & Grammy



Holding my oldest brother Luke



One of my favorites - My two Gramps together



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Grampy's Funeral Service was on Saturday, August 11th. It was traditional. They had a viewing first, then a Memorial Service, then the motorcade to the Gravesite (Dawes Arboretum), then the Gravesite Service. Grampy was in the Navy for 21 years and highly decorated, so he was given a full Navy Gun Salute and folding of the Flag. I was honored to be asked by my Grandmother (Grammy) to play the bagpipes for both the Memorial Service (Amazing Grace at the end) and for the Gravesite Service (Eternal Father and Taps.) I couldn't have imagined a better place or time for a funeral. The sun was shining, the temperature stayed in the upper 70's, a light breeze consistently blew, everything was in bloom. The feeling was surreal.

Below is what I wrote for my speech about Grampy at the service:

Well as I sit here in the passenger’s seat of the Quality Pools truck with Dustin driving us back home from Virginia, I reminisce.

It has been an interesting week… many things have happened, and many things are yet to happen, but I want to speak on what I remember about my Grampy.

Grampy was always a man who demanded my attention and respect. Ever since I was little I found myself looking up to him. I remember when I was very little and decided to crack one of the walnuts that were always gathered on the living room coffee table. I did so, and with my Mom and Dustin as my witness, I’ll be darned if there wasn’t a $20 dollar bill inside! It didn’t seem to be 30 seconds until the word got out and every brother/cousin/friend was there at the table cracking walnuts. Grampy never said a word about this, but we knew it was him who seamlessly cut the walnuts and glued them back together again with cash inside, in such a fashion that nobody could tell they had ever been touched.

Dustin just saw a shooting star, beautiful! Okay, back to the stories.

Grampy was not a braggert… never once do I remember him brag.

He loved telling stories at the dinner table… How many times do I remember being at the dinner table with the whole family sitting by, just waiting for him to take over the conversation with one of his great shirt pocket stories…yeah, you all know what I’m talking about. I love those times and miss them very much.

I remember the pancakes in the morning… the contests…
I remember his laugh that always took a lot to earn, but was such a joy to hear that I worked hard to get it out of him.
I remember when he and my grandmother came to my elementary school on grandparents day and my grampy seemed to just know when somebody or something deserved a round of applause, and he was certainly not afraid to say it.

Grampy didn’t live for himself.

I remember the bike rides, the words of wisdom that we couldn’t deny, like ‘you should always have a handkerchief with you. You just never know when you’re going to need it.” This was of course right after I had to blow my nose and didn’t have anything to blow it into.

Now I am so thankful to have been able to see him in Florida, in his last days. His eyes were always tired, but his smile made it all worth it. He loved so much to listen to how my life is going and just about the stories that have made this Journey America Tour. He still wanted to watch the big game on tv (the football game in January, then the basketball game in March.)

Grampy would also tell me much in his last days about how he’s been praying for me. What a tear that brings to my eyes. A man in his last days telling me that he’s been praying for me. What a man(n)!

Grampy showed me what it means to walk the walk.

Thank you Grampy. I love you and will miss you dearly.

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He sunk battleships in World War II.
He was shot down and imprisoned in the Japanese Prison War Camps.
He was born of German parents.
His actions were carefully planned and calculated.
He was never late.
He was perfect by no means, but...
He lived every moment and left nothing to chance.

I will see you again, Grampy, but not yet... not yet.

~ Nathan Dawes Mann