Last month, our neighbor passed away. Ed Letcher, you may have met
him, has been our friend since he moved here. He died suddenly of a
heart attack while hiking. Ed was a great guy and he took to Joanna
like she was his own grandchild. He left behind his wife and his
14-year-old adopted son (grandson). His son is doing o.k. but is
really heartbroken. It's my understanding that Ed didn't even know he
was dying, he thought he was out of breath and was going to sit down
and rest. He died as he was sitting down of a massive heart attack.

Ed was Joanna's "pappy." She saw him nearly every day and he loved
her. She has finally realized he is not coming back. It has been tough
explaining to her, but I decided to keep it really simple. I tell her
"When you go to Nana and Pappy's house, Pappy won't be there. He is in
heaven." Sometimes, she says, "No. Pappy is at work." (just
matter-of-factly). A week ago, Sheryl had Joanna in the car and Jacob
got in the car and mentioned Pappy's name. Joanna said, "Pappy is in
heaven." and they were stunned. Sheryl told me that Jacob asked her
"what did you say?" so that she'd repeat that because he couldn't
believe she said that. A few days ago, she asked for Pappy and Sheryl
overheard her. Sheryl asked if she could give Joanna a photo of Pappy
later. When she gave the picture to Joanna, Joanna threw it down and
said "No" (but not mean). She asked for him again today after I said
something about being "happy". I just said, "Yep. I want to see Pappy
too. He's in heaven. I know you miss him. I miss him too." She said, "Yep"
back and "Oh, I'm sorry." I know she doesn't fully understand, but I'm just approaching
the situation like I want her to learn about death. Death is a natural
part of our lives. It is unexpected, but it is not the end.

I'm still sad about him being gone and my heart breaks for
his wife and having lost her partner of 40 years. Wow! She's doing
o.k. though. Ed loved the Lord Jesus, though so it helps knowing we
will all see him again. It also helps knowing that he died doing
exactly what he loved, hiking. Ed's funeral was awesome. It was one
that I had never seen the likes of before. I will have to write about that!