Grandpa Bowen's Birthday

October 5, 2007

"This weekend was a bitter-sweet experience for me. I'm so glad I got to spend time with my family, but I feel like it passed by too quickly. We flew into Salt Lake City and met up with the Bowen's at Gardner Village for lunch."

"I have never been to Gardner Village before, but it was the perfect way to experience the beginning of Fall. There were pumpkins all over the place, Halloween decorations everywhere, and every little boutique shop smelled like cinnamon or pumpkin spice. To top it all off, the trees were full of autumn color! It was so fun!"

"Early the next morning we met at a church building and helped set up tables and a brunch for Grandpa Bowen's 70th birthday party. Each centerpiece had a picture of my Grandpa at different ages of his life, and Dad had made a special slideshow of Grandpa's pictures for everyone to watch. As we gathered around and waited for him to walk in the door, I could feel the lump in my throat and my eyes started tearing up. I tried not to think of this weekend as the last time I would see my Grandpa, but it hasn't been an easy year for him and his battle with cancer. But we yelled "SURPRISE" when he and grandma walked through the door, and he burst into tears of joy. That was all it took for me to burst into tears myself. It was a happy reunion and we enjoyed a nice breakfast together."

"I think the biggest impact that my grandpa has had in my life is how special he made me feel. He would always praise me for my accomplishments in school. He always told me how beautiful I was, even when I didn't feel beautiful. He stood up for me when my brothers would tease, and tried to teach my brothers how to respect me and other women. He would always joke about testing the guys I dated to make sure they were good enough for his granddaughter, but the underlying message was that I deserved the best of men who would treat me the way my grandpa would treat me - with respect. I told him how grateful I was to him for building my self-esteem and showing me an example of what a good father and husband should be like, so that I could find the best husband for myself. I assured him that John had passed the test."

"After the brunch we met up at someone's house to take family pictures. It was the first family picture we had taken in years."

"It's fun to see how all of us have grown up."

"I love my grandpa so much. He will always be my hero. It was very hard to say goodbye when the weekend was over."