A Kleenex May Be Needed

Grandfather, grandpa, and papa all are terms of endearment for many of our favorite people in this world. The dictionary defines a grandfather as the father of one’s father or mother. While I’ll have to agree with the dictionary…I also think it needs expanded…especially to encompass all that Papa Jeff was to Wyatt.

Jeff was one of Wyatt’s favorite people. They were two peas in a pod. They enjoyed walking around the yard looking at bugs, snakes, and other creatures. They loved to wrestle and play ‘1, 2’…or Wyatt and Jeff’s version of WWE Wrestling. Wyatt loved to grab the bag of pretzels out of the pantry and snack on them with Jeff in his leather recliner. What I loved most about their relationship is how Wyatt could turn Jeff back into a little kid as they played cars, read a book, or picked mushrooms (which both of them dislike) off of pizza. Wyatt loved Papa as much as Papa loved Wyatt.

The day after Labor Day, Jeff died suddenly in an accident at work in a grain bin. This tragedy has been hard for all of us close to Jeff to handle, but especially confusing for an almost 3 year old. He knows something is wrong, but can’t quite understand the finality of the situation. While I am so grateful for the time that they were able to spend together just the weekend before, I mourn the time that they will miss out on in the future.

Jeff had always talked about wanting to take Wyatt to a Milwaukee Brewers game when he was a few years older. I hope that Brian, Lorrie, and maybe Matt and Elizabeth can do this one day to fulfill a tradition that Jeff wanted to keep going. I hope that we can go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. We will find many things to do together as a family to remember Jeff, not only for Wyatt, but for all of us.

Having been a part of the Balk family for almost half of my life, I know that we are strong and resilient. We’ll be there for each other and make it through this. We all acknowledge that healing from the loss of our papa, father, and husband will take a long time. We’ve got a great support system in each other and our many friends.