A sad day for many

This morning as we came back home from church (cleaning duty) Dan got the worst phone call of his life. His brother Steven gave him the news that his dad past away last night while sleeping. Dan always talked about how he thought his dad has about 10 more years left in him or more. He always seemed to be full of energy and excited about life. My in laws were planing a trip to South America next year and were very excited about it too.
The first time I met him was when Dan finished his mission, I used to be scared of him but once I got to know him as my soon to be father-in-law he turned out pretty cool. He was an easy guy to love and he was a good example to many. He knew everybody, literally. When he came to visit us the kids always were so happy to see him and spend time with him. It was not difficult to start calling him "Dad" when I got married since my dad was gone already it didn't feel weird calling him that. He has been there fur us many many times and it makes me really sad to know that we wont be able to share special moments with him anymore. It seems surreal and it brakes my heart to see Dan suffering so much. We will miss him but we also know that there is life after death, we know he is not gone forever, that we will see him again. I would like to think that he and my dad finally met and were able to exchange stories about me, that would be cool.

We will be leaving Monday morning for VA and will spend almost a whole week there. I feel like we need to be there as a family for a final goodbye and to show support to the Brown family. It will be great to see the family again even if it is not a for a happy occasion. We also hope to see old friends and to drive the kids around so they can enjoy once again being back home.

I am so glad for the gospel and the many blessings it brings to our life, for the promises that we get when we go to the Temple as we get married for time an eternity, that definitely makes situations like this one a whole lot better.