Farewell Grandpa Dodson

Our family lost a very special member recently, Steve's Grandpa Dodson. And even though he was Steve's grandfather, I really feel a since of loss at his passing too.
Steve and I began dating when we were sixteen. During one of his visits to Grandpa Dodson in Arkansas, Steve showed him a picture of me. Grandpa called me a "fiery redhead." Steve corrected him and showed him that I was blonde. "Nope," Grandpa Dodson said. "She's a fiery redhead. I can tell."

I loved Grandpa Dodson's sense of humor. He had a dry sense of humor that always made me laugh. Grandpa, Steve, and I would spend our visits teasing each other. Steve and I would try and get Grandpa Dodson to tell us stories about his youth, especially his experience in the Navy during WWII. Grandpa Dodson wasn't long-winded with his tales, but it was nice to get little snapshots of his life.

My favorite part of Grandpa Dodson was the love that he had for Addison. If we planned a trip to visit Grandpa, he would tell us not to come without her! :) When Addison was around, Grandpa had a special way of speaking to her. He loved to coo at her and would click and clack his tongue. . .it is hard to describe but it always made me smile hearing him talk like that because I could feel the love in his voice.
Not being LDS, Grandpa Dodson loved to tease us about how we shouldn't have too many children. "Two is plenty," Grandpa would say. He would then say that we shouldn't be like his son who had five children. I always smiled at this, because Steve's the 5th child in that story so a smaller family would have been a bit of a problem! This last trip; however, we told Grandpa Dodson that we were expecting our second child. . . another girl. Grandpa Dodson was silent for a moment and then said, "Well, I guess it's okay if you have one more kid- if it's a boy. But after that, no more. Three's plenty."

We were able to see Grandpa Dodson about a month before he passed away. We knew we were moving to Ohio and with Grandpa being as old as he is and with him having some health issues, we sensed this may be the last time we would be able to see him. I'm thankful that we were able to have this special man as a part of our lives. Steve and I are both sad that Addison won't remember him and that any other children we have won't be able to meet him- at least not in this life, but we have both promised to tell them all about this special man that we loved.