Robots on the Road: Day Seven

We got a lovely, slow start today. We slept in until 6:30, took our time getting ready and headed out for breakfast.   We ate, did a little shopping and didn't get on the road until almost 10 am. We headed out of Memphis, on our way to Knoxville.

 But, today was a solemn day for us. We came to Knoxville to go to a cemetery.  

Many of you know that John has been estranged from his parents for about 8 years now. They made some life choices that we felt we needed to separate ourselves from.  We love them and we've missed them, but we feel it was the right decision to make. 

This spring one of John's cousins got in touch with us through facebook and said she needed to speak to us urgently. John's father had passed away.  John spoke to his grandmother and decided not to attend the funeral. It was not an easy decision, but he thought it was for the best. So since we were on our way cross country, we decided to come to Knoxville so we could go to the Veteran's Cemetery to see where John's father was laid to rest.

All day I was thinking about the girls Pappy. I remembered how he accepted me quickly when John and I quickly got married at age 19. Johnny loved me, and that was good enough for him. He was a quiet man but he was kind to me. I remembered how much he loved being a grandfather.  When Lilly was born, John and I were living with his parents. Lilly was a particularly fussy baby and when no one else could get her to sleep, Pappy would quietly say, "Give me my grandbaby.". He would sit in his recliner with her head in one hand and her bottom in the other and look at her with so much love it would bring tears to my eyes. Then he would hold her and rock her and talk to her softly, and slowly, she would fall asleep in his arms. 

When Lilly was in preschool, John called his mother, distraught because the social worker at the school had told us we should get Lilly on a waiting list for a group home. She told us someday we wouldn't be able to take care of Lilly on our own anymore. The next time John saw his father, his father was very angry with him. "When you and Leah decide you can't handle Lilly anymore, you bring her to me and your mother. We'll take care of her.", he said. I was so angry at the time. What made him think they could take care of her if I couldn't?  I realize now that it didn't have anything to do with who he thought could or couldn't take care of Lilly. He just loved her so much, he couldn't stand the idea of her being somewhere without people who love her.

No matter how much we love someone, we can't make them the person we want them to be. All we can do is love them for who they are. 

So here we are, a family of robots, remembering in Knoxville, Tennessee.