Rachel's Tribute to Her Grandpa

This too is a repost from 3 years ago - in memory of 10 years of passing of Rachel's grandpa......

Rachel emailed this to Grandma Boore, October 28, 2005

EDWARD LEE BOORE……...
There have been three men in my life who have forever changed me...My husband, my father, and my grandfather. I can't believe that it has already been five years. I still miss him terribly. I catch myself thinking of him often. Especially around holidays and of course on his birthday, and always on October 28th. He was diagnosed with a terminal disease just a few short months before he died. I wish everyone could have known my grandfather. He was a victim of the depression, so he saved up every penny he ever made. He was also a pack-rat, so he had shed's full of just junk. He loved it all though, and funny - so did I. They lived on a farm their entire married life. Over fifty years (they are such an inspiration to me). I would go and spend a couple of weeks every summer. During which, I would spend entire days outdoors. Helping grandpa out in the pastures, swinging from the tire tied to the tree, playing make-believe on the grass, running through the wheat field, and riding one of the old bicycles that my mother and aunts used to own. Oh, how I loved to go and pick the blackberries. Amazing how so many of them never made it back to the house. I have so many wonderful memories tied to that farm. It is one of the main reasons that I yearn to live on a several acres of land one day.

It's funny now when I think of how my entire family fit inside their house all those years. Fifteen people... (and fifteen people in a huge house is still a lot of people under one roof! Not to mention the other relatives that would come visit and play games while we were all there!) All of us kids would get creative on our sleeping arrangements. I can't tell you how many years that I slept on the two lazy boys pushed together. It is amazing how many kids can fit on a pull out couch. Oh, the memories.... I will never forget the day that he decided to teach me to drive. I couldn't have been more than twelve years old. I remember I could just barely reach the peddles, and I was so nervous. It was just old country roads, with no one else around, but I just knew that I was going to mess up. We drove for probably thirty minutes. Practically going in big circles. I'm sure that he was a nervous wreck. Yet, I will never forget how gentle he was with me. How patient. He loved to teach, and I loved to learn from him. He was an amazing man. Such a hard worker. He worked every day of his life, including the day that he died. When he really began to get sick, he started to sell his cows. It had to of been so hard on him. However, he still continued to go out in the fields every day. Grandma finally convinced him to take a walkie talkie out there with him so that if he needed her for any reason, he could reach her. However, he always forgot to turn it on. (lol-laugh out loud). He was also a wonderfully, stubborn man. It was actually a blessing that God decided to take him so early into the disease. Eventually all of his organs would of shut down one by one. This would of left him completely unable to do anything. And that was not who my grandpa was. It would of killed him to have others wait on him, to not be able to do what he knew how to do best. Work. So the fact that he had a heart attack that took him on October 28, 2000, was actually the best thing that could of happened. He was such a Godly man...and to picture him in heaven, praising the Lord all day long, makes me happy. Selfishly, I just miss him. Oh, how much I did love him, how much I do love him still. The day of his funeral was the hardest day of my life. The amount of people who showed in honor of my grandfather was touching. He impacted many lives. Mostly, I felt the impact on my life. I still feel it today. I wish I could put it into words how much this man meant to me... but there are no words. I'm just forever grateful for him, and the life that he lead. At the end of the service, everyone had a chance to say a final goodbye as they walked past the casket. The entire time, the song "I Can Only Imagine" played. To this day, I can never hear that song without thinking of him. If I think on it too long, inevitably, the tears come.

He was a special man. He was special to me. I wish he could see what my life is like now. I believe he would be proud of me. I was the youngest grandchild, and I always held a special place in his heart, and he will always hold that place in my heart. No one will ever fill it, and I don't want anyone to. Edward Lee Boore will always be a part of me. And I take peace in knowing that. I love you grandpa, and I always will. Selfishly I miss you, and wish you could be here not only with me, but for mom, Aunt Kaye, and Aunt Bev. Mostly for Grandma though. You would be proud of how well she has done since you've been gone. I know it is hard on her though. You were her life for more than fifty years. And as much as I miss you, I know that her pain is so much more. I especially missed you on my wedding day, and will miss you terribly on the day that I give birth to our first child (whenever that may be), but I can't wait until I'm up there with you. Right after you died, I pictured us walking hand in hand down the streets of gold on our way to praising Jesus. That picture used to bring me joy….and it still does. I wish I could of told you what you meant to me, how much you impacted me, but I hope you knew it. Thank you for living the life that you did. Thank you for being the man of God that you were. You and Grandma raised three beautiful daughters, who in turn have raised beautiful children of their own. You would be proud of all the spouses that they have picked, and the great grandchild that you have. We all miss you, especially today....but one day... one day, we will be together again, and what a glorious day that will be!

Rachel Ann Swart Cox