Heaven's Gain, Our Loss

 Please read the post from two days ago where I talk about saying Good bye to John's dad, my father in law, Jack.

We got word yesterday that he had gone to heaven.

Our prayers were answered in that he was comfortable at the end.

We are still up in Michigan which makes this a bit more complicated, but it will all work out.

While we will miss Jack, we are so happy that he is finally back together with MaryAnn who died just short of two years ago.

In all reality, Jack "died" with her.  He was never quite the same after he lost her.

Living in a care center with a roommate is not the way to live out what was once a very social and active life full of adventures and travel.

It was never pleasant to visit him there, so for those reasons, I am thankful that he is celebrating in heaven today.

 I am so thankful for my faith.

Not sure how people who have no faith face death.

I take great comfort in the fact that yesterday, Jack was greeted at the gates of heaven by MaryAnn, his parents, many other family members, and friends, but most of all I take comfort in visualizing my dad who died 23 years ago waiting for Jack with a Manhattan in hand.

I know the old song, "In heaven there is no beer," but I am not letting that ruin my happy picture even if it is minus a manhattan.

My dad and Jack were very good buddies.

They hit it off right away and never looked back.

They traveled together, drank together, and laughed together.

When Jack and MaryAnn owned a  motel in Janesville, my dad and mom would go and spend weekends with them.

They didn't need John, me, and the girls to bring them together.

That's how much they enjoyed each other.

So last night when we were out to dinner, we toasted Jack.

In my thoughts, I toasted Ken, too.

 

 

I also get great joy and comfort from knowing that little Natnael would have been waiting and when he saw Jack, he would run up, point just like in this picture and say,"Pops!"