Goodbye, for now

One of the greatest men in my life has gone on to a greater call. E Taylor Petersen, better known as Pa-Ta, passed away after a battle with cancer. My family that was with him says he passed away peacefully, and we all know he has been waiting to get on with it--he hated being waited on, hated the hospital visits and feared that he would be remembered as a sick man. I know I won't remember him that way.

He's the first person ever close to me to go. Even though he's had cancer for quite a while, I think this came kind of suddenly for all of us. Grandpa was only in his 70s--I think 76 or so. His dad was much older. And I hope my grandma gets on well. I can't imagine what she's going through. They've been married over fifty years. What do you do when you lose your life-long partner? Go on knowing that you'll see them again...

I know my grandpa was a great man. I've seen posts on facebook of my aunt mentioning how he's been sick and she's taken frequent visits up to see him. Every time she posts anything about him, she gets at least ten different responses of condolences and memories of how great it was to know Taylor Petersen and what a great bishop he was or how good it was to have been in one of his institute classes.

And look at my grandpa's legacy. He's got five amazing kids who all have their own amazing kids and grandkids. There really is no bad apple in our family. Of course we've had problems, but everyone is doing genuinly well because of the great leadership we've been shown. And it's not only family that grandpa has influenced. He's led an amazing life:

He served in the Air Force for many years and in Korea. He taught the gospel there.

When he retired from the military, he taught for CES and was an institute director at Cal State Northridge, Harvard, NAU and in Hawaii. He taught the gospel.

Then he and my grandma served an amazing mission in Hawaii after he retired from CES. He taught the gospel.

Finally, they settled in Hurricane having visitors from literally around the world wanting to learn from grandpa and feel the love he and grandma have for EVERYONE.

I think I knew him well. Not great, but well. I only regret not learning more from him. I could have learned so much more.

Anyway, as a side note, I have to honor my sister. She's a great person. If you know her, you're lucky. If you don't, you have to understand that she usually does things a little differently (not in a bad way). She does things because she wants to, not because she feels pressured to or people expect it from her. So, when she surprised everyone with the middle name of her first boy (born on the 24th of this month), I knew she was paying great respect to my grandpa. She named him Kai Taylor Odenbrett. Thanks Desiree. I know that meant a lot to them and all of us.