Monday, August 19, 2013
<p>Forever Selfless</p>Paul was the sweetest, most humble man I have ever had the blessing of knowing. I truly can't imagine having a more gracious father-in-law. I will never forget moving into our house in Newark and my washer and dryer breaking within three days of the move. Teralyn was only a few weeks old, Chris was 3, and Mitch was out of town. Paul and Holly bought us a new washer and dryer in Lodi and immediately drove them out to Newark. The part of the story that stays with me the most is that somehow Paul got the new appliances out of his truck and hauled the old ones into the truck by himself! Since I was busy with the kids, I still to this day don't know how he did it. This selfless act of kindness and affection was one I will never forget and which I would come to discover was a way of life for both Paul and Holly. I am incredibly fortunate that Paul passed on both his ingenuity and selflessness to my wonderful husband, Mitch. As a grandfather, Paul was absolutely amazing. He could hold my babies for hours if need be and they would be as content as could be, not making a peep! Again, I don't know how he did itthe kids just felt Paul's calmness and love and felt a sense of peace in his arms. The last time I visited Paul and Holly in February, Paul had been battling cancer for 2 years with almost nonstop chemo. And yet he was constantly thinking of others, asking me if I needed anything, if I wanted something to drink, if I felt OK. I wanted to say "sit down and take care of yourself! , which I actually think I tried to do, but he would have none of it. We always joked that we would both respond "I'm fine when the other person asked, but we both knew that was usually not the case. We laughed because we understood each other that way. We laughed together a lot, and that is what I will miss the most. We laughed about our "senior moments , about how frustrated Paul would get working on a project with Mitch (sorry, Hun!), and mostly about the stupid things I do! Haha! It brightened both of our days to laugh at and with each other, and I will miss that terribly. I will miss you terribly Paul. And by the way, I promise to get the mail today. Love, Barbara
