Cheerio

Our family tragically lost my VERY healthy 91 year-old Grandfather, Waino Theodore Ray, this weekend. He fell on the ice Saturday morning in Maine and the life support was removed that night. He passed away early this morning.

Grandpa was an amazing man, loving husband, father, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather, and hero to many. Some would maybe even call him the Mayor of Piper Shores (his retirement community) because of how involved he was there. He would get up every morning and do 25 minutes of exercises, could excitedly recite Casey at the Bat and Albert the Lion, invented his own clamming shoes, loved the date March 4! (the day of the great command), still hunted at 91, and spoke fluent Finnish. He taught me to love to eat fiddleheads, dandelions, lilies, and cattails; play cribbage; shuffle & deal cards (and not get shot!); how to tie a tie; drink black coffee; the proper way to eat soup; use the words "many" and "much" in a sentence; the definition of SISU (Finnish strength of will); and most importantly showed me how to live life to the fullest regardless of age. How many people can say they've been downhill skiing with their Grandfather?

In the last few years my Grandmother's Alzheimer’s got so bad but Grandpa always had a way to communicate with her, and I believe she still truly knew who he was. Thankfully I was able to bring Kerris to meet him a few weeks ago, so I feel very fortunate. He was honestly in such good shape mentally and physically that it never would have been a natural cause of death for him. And unlike most people his age, he was actually outside walking to his car when it happened.

I'm so thankful he wrote his book Young Finn on Cape Ann, This and That, and his Memoirs. We're so lucky to have his legacy preserved forever. My only regret is that I didn't talk with him more but I know that Dad's daily phone calls with him still brought news of the family and that made him very happy and proud. Grandpa had a long, wonderful life and will truly be missed.

If you have a moment, please give your loved ones a call today just to say hello.