Long but Never Forgotten

The smell of the mountains after the rain is finished watering us from the heavens, the strong scent of oil, grease, and gas blended with dust, dirt, and exhaust fumes, the aroma of plain black coffee with plain cake donuts are every single smells that make me think of you.
Surrounded by family; my mom and aunts chattering away, kids running around playing, pictures being passed around, a great grandmother who looks just like one aunt, one cousin uploading videos, another writing away summing up the life of the amazing man who was our grandpa, supportive husbands, my brother going through your wallet for membership cards, and me sitting in the middle of it taking it all in.
Friday, April 14th, a light went out in our family. My grandpa passed away peacefully in his home, in his bed just the way he wanted. Shock still gripped me when the news came to me and I've slowly gathered myself to help my family out.

My grandpa was a man of few words so growing up I became used to being surrounded by silence. I loved him dearly. I accepted the man he was; trustworthy, a pillar of this community, and a humble man. The first Easter without him was difficult but gathering with my family helped to make it okay. Working together to bring so many aspects of his life into a single article and then translating it into a video helped me through the last few days. Today sitting in the funeral home was hard but my mom needed me.
I don't do well with opening up about my life and prefer to not have the focus on me but I felt I should share some of the thoughts I have had.
I feel blissed to be around the crazy family I have.