Marigolds for Grandpa

Every year the girls and I pick out flowers to plant at Grandpa's gravesite. It has been fun in the past, as we make lots of trips to the cemetery to water the flowers and watch as they grow and bloom. This year we picked out marigolds. 

I love this tradition, but not because I love to dig in the soil and add color to the grass. It actually has nothing to do with the flowers and everything to do with remembering a great man, one that my children have never met but whose legacy affects them. It has everything to do with invaluable conversations about life and death and the great anticipation to be in heaven with our loving God. It has everything to do with sharing memories so they can "know" their Grandpa. 

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
Isaiah 57:1-2