Monday, January 13, 2014

A goodbye to Grandpa Tauscher

 Ok, so like I mentioned, I had no idea how to pack my babies! I had loads of mismatched hats and gloves and scarves.  And as much as it killed me, I slapped all that craziness on when we got to Wisconsin.

 We had to stop and take pictures as soon as we'd arrived!  This was taken right there outside the Madison, WI, airport.
 I think my girl was worn slap out from the trip.  I looked in the backseat and saw this...
 So cute.
 Even this WILD THING was out.  I just let them lie and sleep.
 Todd and I were happy to have a few minutes of peace and quiet for the 2 hour drive from Madison the West Salem, WI. Any parent knows that little ones on an airplane can be quite taxing.
 And it didn't take long for us to realize we were OUT OF OUR ELEMENT!!
 This is Todd's Grandparents' farmhouse.  I think it was where DeeDee grew up,  in fact.
 They recently tore down the big barn.  But, they still have some other structures standing.
 They live on a dairy farm.  It was a neat for my girls to see this totally different lifestyle from the one they are accustomed to.

 This is where we were hanging... The town of Bangor.  Anybody heard of it?!


 I walked way out to the road to try and take a picture of the entire farm.  I couldn't really get it all in a pic.

 This is a photo of Grandpa and Grandma Tauscher.  I love this picture.  It sums them up.  Grandpa was already in a wheelchair, and his loving wife, all 5' of her, would push him everywhere.  She ADORED her husband!
 More pics to follow.

My girls loved the snow!  Especially this little snow bunny.


 We were at the church, and someone went through all the trouble of cleaning off the sidewalks!  All the other folks would be carefully walking on the "clean" sidewalks, and my girls were gleefully stomping, up to their knees, right through the middle of the snow!!

 We garthered outside waiting for Grandma to come out as we were all late for the visitation.  But she was extremely heartbroken! And she was NOT in the place required to get up and go.
 And so, we waited.
 And these two little chickadees were more than happy to do so.  They didnt' even act like they were cold.  I caught both of them digging their hands in the snow.... without gloves!
 Once we made it to the church, I can tell you it was worth the wait.  It was a BEAUTIFUL old Lutheran Church.
 The whole thing was just striking!
 One of Grandma and Grandpa's favorite places in the world was The Beach Club in Gulf Shores!
 And feeding the seagulls was one of their favorite things to do.  In fact, the inside of Grandpa Tauscher's casket had seagulls on it.  Fitting tribute!
 Grandma called him , "Mr. Wonderful".  ANd she meant it every time!
 They were married 69 years.

It's hard for me to fathom being married to someone longer than I have even been alive.

 Theirs was a love story!
 I was inspired to make sure my husband thinks I think of him as Mr. Wonderful.  What a legacy for your kids to see, hear and watch!
 However, she is so heartbroken now that she just admittedly does not know what she is going to do.  She would say, "Life is going to be very, very different from now on."
 And on the morning of his funeral, Todd saw her and said, "Good morning".  She replied, "What's good about it?".  She had a pretty darn good point!
 Grandpa Tauscher was in the Coast Guard, so he had the full military tribute.
 There's Grandma... and her three daugthers.  And her great granddaughter.
 They had to pay very close attention to her and take care of her constantly.
 As these two tromped through the fresh snow that everyone else was avoiding!

 This was a small town funeral, and apparently they do things differently up there.  Every car in the procession had one of these orange flags on its hood.
 and as we drove away from the cemetery...
 Todd looked out at all the white snow and said, "Don't you think this is all so peaceful?".
 For some reason, the snow calms him.  It makes me think of how many layers of clothes I have to wear and how many gloves, scarves, socks, longjohns, hats, etc I'd have to keep track of.  So, no... I don't see the peacefulness in it.

But if it brought him peace to think that, so be it.  And I know that Grandpa Tauscher will be laid to rest near the place he loved most... his dairy farm.
 I'm glad the girls got to meet relatives they had never met before.

 And I'm glad that Grandpa Tauscher had a long life of 92 years with a bride who adored him and called him Mr. Wonderful.
Doesn't every man deserve that?!

Mo

17 comments:

Unknown said...

What a beautiful tribute.

Kala said...

What a beautiful love story! My grandparents were married 65 years when my grandfather passed away. What wonderful memories we have of time spent with them. My sympathies to your family for your loss.

Sheila Johnson said...

That was beautiful!! And you were only about a hour/hour and a half from the area I live. Great place for a retreat!! ;) (Your husband would love Wisconsin today - about 6 inches of snow and still coming down!!) UGH!!!

Becky said...

I'm very sorry to hear of Todd's grandfather's passing. January 11th marked the anniversary of my grandpa's passing, its been 8 yrs, and I still miss him as much today as the day he died. Grandparents are very special. My grandma was very much the same way... they were married 60 yrs, and he was truly everything to her! She is still so lost without him. My sympathy to your family!
And I wish I had known you were in Wisconsin. I'm just across the border in Minnesota! Although, I've never heard of the town you were in. And yes, getting more snow today! Its funny how are nearly 40 degree day we were loving it cuz it was so warm.... 60 degrees warmer than the week before! Funny!
Have a good week!
Becky

Desiree said...

I know of Bangor and have driven through that are I believe but really its because I graduated High School in Tomah, WI so I knew the area in general. My mom and sister still live in the area. I now live near Cedar Rapids, IA which you briefly stopped in. My oh my you were so in my area which I think is pretty cool. And yes the flags are so other cars are aware that it is a funeral procession and they won't break it up say due to a red light. The flags allow you to enter the intersection of a red light and not stop to keep the procession together and other cars are to give right of way to the procession. If they don't give out flags as some places don't then the whole procession will drive with their 4 way flashers or hazard lights you might call them on as the indication that you belong to the procession.

Condolences to the family. And this post just radiates the love there is among the family.

Shannon said...

So tell me, Mo - how did Todd's family migrate south?
And sorry about GP's passing.

Kathryn said...

That is lovely.

SamC said...

I am so sorry about Todd's grandfather. What a wonderful love story he and his wife shared.

I find snow peaceful too. Not that we get a whole lot in Northeast Mississippi, but, there is such a stillness when there is snow on the ground. Also, why do people love walking in the snow and not in the rain. Rain is just unfrozen snow. :)

kimybeee said...

Beautiful! I am fortunate to be married to a mr wonderful too!

And we do the flags here in small town wv. People pull over for funeral processions to pass on the road. Very respectful. And every funeral procession has a police escort from the funeral home to the cemetery and stops traffic to allow the procession into the cemetery.

I love snow I don't think I would want the extremes of Wisconsin. Here in wv we get the best of all the weather without most of the extremes. I wish living on a farm that from December first to march first the temperatures stayed 30 degrees or below. Mud sucks!

Your girls are very blessed to have such an extended family! They would have fun anywhere because they embrace JOY like their momma!

Elizabeth said...

What a beautiful tribute and a great reminder to all of us to cherish our husbands and all of our family.

Elizabeth said...

What a beautiful tribute and a great reminder to all of us to cherish our husbands and all of our family.

Becky said...

Beautiful love story. Your grandma is right - my dad died after 61 years of marriage and it has been a very hard adjustment for my mama because probably like Todd's grandma she moved right out of her house, into their home after they got married. So glad the girls liked the snow.

jenny said...

That pic of you and Todd (with girlies asleep in the backseat) is Fabulous! So good of both of you. You look pretty and upbeat and happy and Todd looks extremely handsome. Just thought you'd like to know that in case you want to take another look at that pic! Blessings.

Rhonda said...

Beautiful love story! So sweet and just as it should be ~ we can only hope we all have that many years with our own Mr. Wonderful! The pictures of the girls are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen of them! I'm a TOTAL beach girl, but I tend to agree with Todd ~ the snow looks so peaceful and serene. Even though I have NO desire to be out there freezing my tail off!! You need to canvas at least one of the snow pictures!

Angie R. said...

What a beautiful love story!! I remember when my grandaddy died how hard it was on my grandmother.

I love all the snow pics!

Granddad said...

Melanie..thank you so much for that beautiful tribute to my dad. It meant so much to me that you and the girls came with Todd.
Dee Dee

nss said...

What a wonderful love story. Don't you just wish everyone could go through life like that! Some of us are very fortunate to find that. I am so sorry for your loss.