Goodbye Pops!

WILLIAM GLENN LEACH

5/19/31 - 7/12/11

Today (or I guess yesterday now), we were saddened by the news that my sweet Dad had passed away during the night. We all know this day would  come sometime (we can't really fight it after all! :}); but, we certainly weren't expecting it anytime soon. Sure he had a long list of medical conditions, and unfortunately has experienced overwhelming pain recently; but, again, nothing we thought would be life threatening. I do have to be grateful for the fact he is no longer in pain, as we know how hard this has been on him recently. My poor Mom was doing her best to take care of him, and my Grandma (good thing she has so much energy!). Since he was released from the Care Facility just a few days ago, they were just in the beginning stages of creating a plan with Home Health Care and preparing for upcoming surgeries. I can't imagine the pain she felt as she tried to revive him, and begin the process of realization of what had occurred (though I'm sure this hasn't sunk in yet!). 

As I sat with many of my family today, I was once again reminded of how lucky we are to have such an incredibly amazing support group! We laughed, we cried, we talked about some of our favorite memories, and then began the process of planning for the funeral. One thing my Dad took great pride in was his family. Nothing brought him greater joy & satisfaction than being with his family! My sister, Colleen, had interviewed him a little while back (which we are so grateful for, to be able to have a lot of his life & interests documented). He said, "Even with its problems & challenges, such as health issues, I wouldn't trade this life for anything and I will be forever grateful for what it has made possible". And he meant that 100%! As I see what an amazing family I have, I have to credit him & Mom, for creating who we are today! He taught us to always love & respect all of mankind, despite what differences we may have. For that, he was incredibly proud!

I am so glad that we decided to stop by to check in on him last night, after our softball game. I've been meaning to all week (and there's a lesson in itself....quit saying "I should" & do it! You never know what the next day may bring, or if you won't get another chance to let someone know how much you love them!). We talked about his childhood days while living in Magna (including running into a moving car's tire while he was sledding on main street :}), and how much he looked forward to the parades (which is something we were just a part of last week, and it was the 1st time we realized where he lived there at the old GEM Theatre apartments). He also said he never loved me any less, despite being a U of U Fan (ha ha...this was a fun rivalry we shared over the years, as he is a true blue BYU fan! We would congratulate the other after each BYU/U of U Football game each year). 

I have so many wonderful memories, I would like to highlight a few that stand out to me. 

• Lunches at Ben's Cafe. This was a little Chinese dive downtown. I don't think Ben ever changed his prices the whole time! My Dad really enjoyed getting to see Ben & his cute little wife, and grew a friendship with them over the years. Despite my struggles to relate as a rebellious teenager, somehow we could always find a way to stay connected through lunch at Ben's. I remember one time, in particular, where there were a table of punk rockers (it was their hang out too :}), and he introduced himself & made conversation. Maybe this is no big deal to some; but, he wasn't afraid of them, and wanted them to feel as accepted as anyone else. This taught me a big lesson to never judge someone by who they "appear to be". They moved from their little 5 table joint, where you'd get your own drink from the fridge, to a bigger space which happened to be close to my work. I always felt a sense of comfort when I could meet him there for lunch!
• Staying up late on school nights so that I could watch M*A*S*H with him each night. Again, he took the opportunity to find ways of connecting, despite my ways of my teenage years! :} I remember watching the final episode with him, while both of us cried that it was over.
• Family nights at Farrell's, Baskin & Robbins, or any other ice cream shop that we were by...oh, how he loved his ice cream. Which didn't help the whole onset of Diabetes; but, hey....look at the bright side, it was ice cream that kept us together! :}
• Playing "Tickle The Tiger" where he would simply lie on the floor, while all us kids would attempt to tickle him without him getting us. 
• His love of the toys, trains, and all kid-like adventures! I think he'd buy  a train set for the kids just so he could play with it. I also remember going to this store @ Trolley Square where he would love to look at the fancy doll houses & train sets.  He was always a kid at heart!
• His love of the circus! One of his favorite family activities over the years was taking us all to the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
• His true love of the holiday season.....he looked forward to Christmas more than any kid I know! He made a big deal of the stockings...that was his thing! And if he knew you were bringing a friend over for Christmas, he'd be sure they had a stocking too! It was quite the undertaking, it eventually ended up with buckets of all kinds of goodies for us to take. It brought such a smile to his face! The holidays in general were his happiest memories!  
• His "animal friends". With so many kids, we had a LOT of animals over the years, covered about every kind of creature we could legally own. Eventually he just had his stuffed animals in random places, they were much easier to take care of! :}
• Having him take me to get my driver's license, and spending a Daddy/Daughter day together after. 
• Him making our lunches for us & always having a cute note on the paper bag. He had such unique writing, and he'd always write special notes on the dry eraser board, with his infamous smiley face (no doubt, this is who I got it from..I can't seem to sign my name without it! :})
• Doing all our ironing..he was precise & always looked sharp. You would not rush him in this task! :}
• Picnics at Murray Park. Oh how I love going to that park because of it (and also love that it just so happens to be the same place we play softball! :}) 
• Reading the "Far Side" cartoons with him. I remember a few that brought him to tears from laughing so hard! Oh, how I can hear that laugh now & see that wonderful smile on his face!
• "Grandpa Time Tickets"....this was something he would do for all the Grandkids at Christmastime, where they could redeem their tickets anytime during the year to have one on one time with Gramps, whatever their choice of activity. That meant so much to the kids, and him! (and that's not easy to do with 23 Grandchildren!) 
• "The Money Jar"....he would save his change all year so that he could divide it up between all the Grandkids to have at Christmas time, so they had their own Christmas money to use. It became a tradition to count it all at the Cousin's Holiday Party.
• Our big family vacation to Mexico/California/Canada. What an amazing adventure it was! (never mind what taking a month off my do to our grades, ha ha). And though we didn't really have the money to take off for that long, he found a way to make it a memory of a life time. He used it as an opportunity for us to learn about gratitude at the same time. He met up with the missionaries in a little town in Mexico, who took us to a very poor part of town. We saw cardboard houses, and families who had nothing but a mattress, if that, to all sleep on. We learned to appreciate what we had, not what we didn't have, knowing others were suffering much more than we were. We got to spend some of this time with his California family, which meant the world to him! We also got to meet many people from his mission in Western Canada, and see for ourselves how he had touched the lives of so many others. 
• Learning the love of word puzzles with him. He would always help me when I was stuck on a crossword! This goes for jigsaw puzzles too! Our favorite one to put together (which we did a few times), was the "San Francisco by Night". Oh, how he loved San Francisco, and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. It brought him such a sense of peace!
• Having him, and Mom, attend so many of our softball games, or the kid's activities, over the years. He enjoyed seeing his kids/Grandkids out doing what they loved to do & was always a wonderful supporter whenever possible!
• Getting to celebrate his & Mom's 50th Anniversary at a cabin with almost all of us (it's not so easy to get all of us together at once with 8 kids, and being spread out throughout the country). This meant so much to him, I will treasure that memory forever!
• Having him & Mom over for the kid's birthdays. They always made an effort to be there, even if he was working a graveyard shift that night, or was having a hard time walking. He said family time, especially on important days (of course, any chance to see his family was an important day!), was far more important than anything (including sleep! :})
• Watching his favorite movie, "It's A Wonderful Life", with him every year growing up (and I continue to love seeing it every year still!). How significant it seems right now! As a matter of fact, is that a bell I just heard ringing? :}
• Hearing stories of his childhood, his love for his mother, her stories (she was amazing as well!), his days as a Hot Air Balloon Pilot (oh how he loves those balloons!), and love for California & HIS ocean! I don't care what you say, it was HIS! :}

                               

     

Of course there's many more; but, those are a few that stand out at this time.

 Here's a few random pictures of Dad over the last few years that I will forever keep close to my heart. 

   Thank you Dad for being such a wonderful example, and a true inspiration to me. I will miss you dearly! I'm glad to know my last words to him were, "I sure do love you Pops!"