They call him "Pastor" or "Mayor" or "Mr. Cooke" or "Bill". I call him GRANDPA.

My grandpa went into the hospital last week with a leak in his brain (no, I don't know the techinical medical term for it--just roll with it). We thought things were getting better, but it seems things are going downhill. He's had a series of several small strokes and his heart is working too hard and not getting enough work done. They've put in a temporary pace maker to see if that helps. If it does, they'll make it permanent. If it doesn't, its back to the drawing board and really only a matter of time.

In the mean time, I've been doing a lot of remembering (death or near death does that to a person) and the thing I remember most about my grandparents is that they were pastors of a church, or teachers, or the mayor or something like that. Everyone around me always had to use a title with them. I always thought it was pretty stinkin' cool that I got to call them Grandpa & Grandma. I mean, really--its, like, a cool INSIDE thing. At least, that's how its always been for me.

I call him Grandpa and my kiddos call him "Great pa-pa". I will miss him terribly when he goes, but I also know he gets to see Grandma and do a lot of celebrating when he gets there.