He's Out on the River

This past weekend, Bob, the girls and I headed out to Farmersburg Iowa to celebrate the life of dear Grandpa Vern.  Bob's Grandpa passed away peacefully at the end of August and all of the family from across the states met this past weekend on the Mississippi to remember and say goodbye.  It was a special time and I am very glad that we made the effort to be there.  The river holds a special place in Bob's heart because it held a special place in his Grandpa's.  Bob used to spend weeks up on the river catching fish, having fish frys and swimming.  He loved his Grandpa a lot.  Can't say I blame him.

Grandpa Vern LOVED the river. He spent every moment he could on it whether it was 5 below zero or in the middle of the summer.  He was somewhat of a legend for his fish catching abilities.  I remember the first time that I met him.  It was Thanksgiving 10+ years ago.  Bob and Grandpa took me ice fishing.  Perhaps in someway Bob knew that if I went ice fishing, I was a girl worth keeping.

We trucked out to the middle of the ice and Grandpa cut the holes in the ice.  He sat not but 5 feet from me and we fished.  In the time it took Bob and I to catch 1 between the two of us Grandpa had literally filled his bucket.  I was convinced that his hole was the jackpot and with a smile he switched spots with me.  I sat there confident I was gonna bring in the load and he started pulling fish by the bucket full out of my hole.  It was unreal.  Talk to anyone, Vern Kuenster knew where the fish were.  Or maybe the fish just flocked to such a gentle, peaceful fisherman.

In the 11+ years that I have known Bob, I have been with Grandpa probably the same amount of times. He was always a quiet man but one you could look to for strength.  He was so generous and kind.  I remember him teaching me how to fish "First rule of the boat Bethany, know where Grandpa is at all times!" I remember him saying.  He put worms on my hook, took the fish I caught off of the hook, detangled lines and retied hooks when my fishing skills caught logs instead of fish.  He was a master of the fish fry and blueberry pancakes were his morning specialty.  I won't forget him.

All of the family was able to traverse out to a small quiet cove of the river and individually say goodbye to this special man.

His ashes were spread on the river, where they should be.  After all, its where he loved to be the most.  What a tribute.

Lily, Evie and her cousins were such good kids.  Lily loved the boat and being out on the water.  I simply cannot say enough about my little Lily Grace.  She was adorable and so loving on this trip.  She is still young, but somehow she knew that this trip was about comfort.  She kept on telling Great Grandma "I love you," "I missed you" "So good to see you."  She just made our hearts melt.

Evie was only too happy to cuddle with whoever wanted to snuggle her be it Great Grandma, Aunt Linda, Cousin Chelsea or any of the other family.  Sleep was somewhat hit or miss for her, but she was a cutie none the less.

The weekend was short and busy, but we did manage to get a 20 mile run in and we just happened to run into some old Arizona friends in the Chicago airport.

What fun it was to have an "its a small world" moment in the terminal.

Grandpa Vern will be very missed.  The river just won't be the same without him.  As we drive across the grand Mississippi on our way to Great Grandma's house though, I will always smile knowing that he's where he should be...... out on the river.