a tribute to a great man

This post is a tribute.
Jason's grandpa passed away Tuesday out of nowhere. It broke the hearts of Jason's whole family and everyone his grandpa had touched, myself included. Dealing with the death of a family member, even though it may not have been mine, is never easy. Unfortunately, I've been through quite a few. But for Jason, a different story. The first.
When I got the phone call on Tuesday from Jason I was driving back to Davenport from Cedar Rapids. I was shocked and didn't even have words. Our conversation ended pretty quickly because I just was dumbfounded. Nobody expected it. 
I still had an hour left in the car and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Just knowing the pain that Jason and his family would soon be going through. My best friend since high school, Tonya, and I had scheduled a phone call to catch up and so I called her, as promised, and we "caught up" - she is the best at talking about tough things with me. 
I worked a half-day Thursday and then Jason and I headed to Independence to be with family and to attend the visitation. Friday morning was the funeral. There is always one part at the funeral that makes me lose it. It's when they roll the casket down the aisle at the end of the service. So, per usual, I was crying and trying to control myself before we had to walk down the aisle behind him.
Makes me tear up just reliving it.
So where's the "good" in all of this? It's hard to pick out the good in such a terrible situation. But I truly believe that a funeral on Valentine's Day is such a huge sign of love. Don't get me wrong, no funeral is "good" but this is about as good as a funeral could get (although yes, not really good at all). The love he had for everyone in that funeral home Thursday night. The love he had for everyone in the church Friday morning. The love he had for all the family that was sitting in his living room Friday afternoon afternoon.
His love was unending, and I was fortunate enough to have met him and spend time with him over the past year and a half. His wife, kids, grandkids and great-grandkids are all very lucky. To spend time with Jason's family over the past couple days and meet more of his extended family, there was love everywhere.
That's the theme of Valentine's Day. LOVE. It's not all about couples, romance, roses and nice dinners. It's truly about what love all encompasses. Family, friends, support and happiness. 
So this year's Valentine's Day was for you, Don Cottrell. And I cannot thank you enough for teaching your grandson the values of a great man.