Saying Goodbye to Grandpa Jensen

My grandpa passed away last week and we travelled to Nebraska over the weekend to say goodbye.  Until 2 weeks ago this would have been a surprise as he was in relative good health for being 85.  I have some amazing memories of him.  Each year as a child I would spend 2 or 3 weeks with my grandparents.  I remember riding in the tractor for hours with him.  One of my favorite memories was driving with him to a bigger town nearby.  He told me all about his time in the military and how he was a paratrooper during the Korean War.  I thought that was the coolest thing ever!  He had so much love to give, which is really amazing when think about all of the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids he had to love (pictured below.)  You would think a man would just run out of love, but he never did.  I sometimes wish we had lived down there so I could have had more time with him.

More than anything, I am grateful that he got to meet Parker before he was gone.  I shared a couple months ago about our trip to Nebraska to celebrate Christmas with my dad's family.  While there we visited my Grandpa and Grandma (on my mom's side)and got pictures taken with them.  This picture was (as far as anyone knows) the last picture taken of him.  I am sad that Parker will not get to know him better, but I will always treasure this picture.

I did enjoy seeing many of my family members that I haven't seen in years.  I wish it was under better circumstances, but it was fun catching up.  It isn't easy getting that many people together!  So, just how big is my family?  My mom is one of 12, which is just the start of things!  Most of them have spouses, and ALL of them have children, and many of those children have children...  Here is a breakdown of the best count I can get (including married spouses and step-children.)

     12 children

     10 spouses of children

     51 grandchildren

     15 spouses of grandchildren

+   38 great-grandchildren

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     126!

I told you it was a bit crazy!  Below is a picture of most of the grandkids and great-grandkids (about 80 of us.)

No better way to celebrate a man's life than with his living legacy.