My sweet Granddad passed away late Monday evening in a quick and painless manner. He is now having the greatest reunion in heaven with my Grandma. He has wanted to be with her since her passing a few years ago, and so my feelings are happiness for him since he is now with his sweetheart again. I am so full of thankfulness to my family and that I was the Granddaughter of such a wonderful man and an Apostle of the Lord. He was the only Grandfather I knew in this life and so I feel saddened to have lost him, but yet know that he has lived such a full life right to the last breath. 
Many of you may have known him on a personal basis, but for those that did not, I feel like sharing a few of my memories of him with you. I think the most asked question that people ask me when they find out that Elder Wirthlin is my Granddad, is "What is it like having an apostle be your Grandpa?" Well, my answer is the same, He is just my grandpa. A fun loving, humorous, and loving man that adores and praises his family. My favorite memory of him is of what a tease he is. When I was dating Tyson, he would tease me just like a brother, and ask how "the chicken" was doing. His eyes twinkled when he smiled and lit my own face when I saw it.
As he got older, his height shrunk. As I grew older and taller, I became just a little bit taller than him. When I would give him a hug or a kiss and have to lean down, he would look up at me and say "Stoop" so that I was the same height as him. 
He loved my Grandma unconditionally and "Sunday has come" now that he is with her again. I hope that each of you remember what a legacy of love he left behind and that his words give you comfort in the many ups and downs of life. I know that I will and will look forward to meeting him again when I leave this life! 
His legacy for his 8 children, 56 grandchildren and 89 great-grandchildren is one of love, laughter, hard work and the constant encouragement to carry on. He always felt like whatever goes on in life you have to pick yourself up and keep going. From his latest Conference talk, and also one of my favorites of his talks, I will leave you with his words. "But whenever my steps lead through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.”
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
My Sweet Granddad
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17 comments:
Very touching Kristina. thanks for sharing that.
What a beautiful tribute! He sounds a lot like my grandpa!
How blessed you are to have had him in your life! I love the pictures of him and you.
On a lighter side, my dad had to pick him up at the airport many years ago. Before picking him up he asked if there was anything special he needed for his hotel room. He wanted twinkies and 7up. My dad always remembered that. Did he still like those in his later years?
Take care and we are thinking about you!!
I love that he referred to Tyson as the "chicken". How fun. I'm so glad you have so many happy memories of him to hang on to. How lucky you are.
that's a very beautiful tribute to your grandad kristina. Thank you. And the pictures of the reunion are my absolute favorite of the bunch. Those are priceless for you and melissa. Love you!
Very sweet, Kristina. We look forward to seeing you guys again. We sure have been lucky lately to get to see you so much, even under such circumstances.
Thank you for sharing those personal memories of your grandpa. He is such an amazing man, and will be greatly missed. Ironically... my sister Eliza (who lives with her husband, little boy + is pregnant with her 2nd in Georgia, while her hubs goes to Pharmacy school) was having a rough day on Monday, and decided she needed to read from the Ensign. Well, after flipping through she felt inspired to read your grandpa's talk -- come what may, and love it. she then found out the next morning about his passing. I just thought that was a tender mercy for her.
Our thoughts + prayers are with you and your family!
Brittney's Seminary teacher had your grandpa's qoute on the board yesterday.
what a wonderful tribute and what a wonderful legacy he has left. I also love thinking of the happy reunion on the other side with sweethearts...the gospel brings such hope and happiness :) Our prayers are with you and your family.
what a treasure of memories you have with your grandad. he is a great man and i will miss him too! i remember seeing him at some of the highschool football games. . . he was always supportive of you.
I loved reading that! I hope things went well with the funeral! Love you!
Hey Kristina, I was sorry to hear about your grandpa, but happy for him too, like you. I saw some of the funeral on TV and really enjoyed your dad's talk, I've always thought a lot of him. Hope things are going good and hopefully we can see you guys soon.
My mom said she saw you and Tyson (from a distance) at the funeral. I'm so glad you could make it to Utah. We'll miss Elder Wirthlin. I loved the quote you shared from his last talk...I, too, thought it was one of his greatest! Love to you all!
We always felt like we knew your grandpa from the things you would tell us about him and of course when we got to see him at your house ocasionally. We are sorry for your loss, but are glad that he is with his wife again in heaven. We miss you guys and hope everything is going well for you!
It was great to see you at the funeral, even at a distance! I'm glad you were able to come for that. I adored your granddad too and felt very blessed to sing with the choir at his and Elisa's funeral. I didn't even make it to MY own grandpas funerals! (long story) Thanks for sharing them with the church and the world, what a great legacy for your family. Love you two! Will we see you at Christmas?
What a beautiful tribute. I'm excited for your granddad too, to see your grandma again! What a gem of a human being and a wonderful example. We always called my dad's father our granddad and my dad is now that. Only he misspells it and always signs cards to the kids: Love, Grandad.
I'm so excited that we'll get to know each other through our new callings and already know I'm going to love you! Tyson and I sure hit it off speaking Dutch to each other. It will be fun to watch Alissa grow and blossom too. Thanks for inviting me as a reader to your blog too!
He will really be missed, and the gathering place that his home became. I feel lucky to have so many of his words, to keep remembering him and learning from!
Thanks for sharing your memories and pictures.
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