Crazy Uncle Ryan's favorite quotes


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."— Arthur C. Clarke

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Grandpa Norberg

This morning I was out in my yard with my father-in-law pruning our fruit trees when my wife came out and told me that my sister Shanna had tried to call me. I had a pretty good idea why she was calling so I immediately went inside to call her back. When I got her on the phone she told me that Grandpa Norberg had just passed away earlier that morning. After giving Alisa the information that Shanna had passed on to me I went back outside. As I worked I thought a lot about my memories of Grandpa. I tried to think of the first time I met him. I remembered the time when I was about 5 or 6 when we first piled in the big blue monster that my parents called a van and went out to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We pulled up to the house and out came grandma with her arms wide and she hugged us each and welcomed us to her home. As hard as I thought though I found it hard to remember seeing Grandpa there. Than it occurred to me. The reason I couldn’t remember seeing him at that time was probably because half his face was hidden behind a very large video camera. That is one of the things I remember most about Grandpa Norberg. He was the man with the camcorder. If I ever want to be reminded of any of the rides and Disneyland I can just pop in the tape of one of our trips there with him and I will be able to watch the entire ride. If I ever want to see myself climbing around in his grapefruit tree there’s a tape with that on it. If I ever need a reminder of the times my brother, sisters and cousins played in their back yard and the inordinate number of times my dad called me over to him to tell me to calm down I know grandpa got it all on tape.

As I continued to think about my dear grandpa I found myself feeling an incredible sense of gratitude. I know I’m very fortunate to have had my grandpa in my life for so much longer than many people do. I had all my grandparents until I was 28; that’s a gift you can’t put a price on. I also took great joy at the wonderful thought that when grandpa passed away this morning he was likely welcomed on the other side by his daughter and my mother Vivian. In some ways I feel a touch of jealousy when I think that he gets to see her again. I take great comfort in the fact that he is no longer suffering the pains and difficulties that he had to live with these last few years of his mortal probation. But, the thing I take the most comfort in is the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation and of the eternal nature of the family.

3 comments:

  1. Ryan you had to go and make me cry didn't you. :) Thanks for writing this. My memories and my thoughts today were the same. And I am a bit jealous myself. I am glad that one day we will all be reunited. Love you!

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  2. Hi Ryan,
    I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I feel your pain as only a few weeks ago my aunt passed away and I am still having a hard time getting over that. At least you have the memories!

    You and your family will be in my prayers.

    Steph

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  3. Found your blog. I still have my four grandparents, but they are declining. I agree that having them all is a priceless gift.

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