The Growing Caldwell Family

A week after visiting Pa Paw, he passed away. We are thankful we had that last visit with him and he is with Ma Maw again, but it was hard to go back for a funeral.  He would have been pleased to see so many come to his beloved church, Mooringsport Baptist, to celebrate and remember him and the great life he lived.  After the services and lunch, the family went back to his house. It felt odd to be there without him, but I think he and Ma Maw were smiling down seeing us together, remembering, laughing, and enjoying each other.  They loved this land that they spent their life caring for and it felt good to be outside and take it in. Glad that we have family to enjoy the memories with.   

  There were plans for a large birthday party to celebrate PaPaw's 100th birthday. His health took a turn but we still made the trip to be able to visit him. Our first stop was lunch with Grancy and Gramma. We tried to visit Pa Paw the day we arrived but he couldn't wake up. We visited with his caregivers, but couldn't talk to him. We headed to visit with Uncle Les and Aunt Barbara. We had a nice time with them and were able to wish Barbara happy birthday! We went back to visit on Sunday and he was awake. He couldn't really speak, but he made eye contact and we felt he understood everything happening around him.  We spent time showing him pictures and remembering stories of good times. It was sweet and sad, but I am so glad we had the chance to be with him and realize that he was not able to live and enjoy his life.  We gave him his birthday gift, a blanket with pictures from good times together.  Arden gave him a special commendation from the Speaker of the House to...

We enjoyed a really fun morning with Pa Paw. We brought him doughnuts (a treat for all of us!); helped him catch up on the news; Charlie helped with setting up some new devices for him; and he told us stories about when he was a school boy.  I think we made memories we will all hold dear.   

  We took a mini road trip all over Shreveport to find Grancy a new tree and then had fun helping her decorate! Poor Charlie had an awful headache that kept him in bed while we did our early Christmas decorating. 

While we were visiting, Grancy had everyone over for an early Thanksgiving celebration.  Charlie woke us up saying that he "slept in the hood!" He's a jokester/! The lake made for a beautiful backdrop for these photos! Grancy hung a swing in a big tree and the kids really enjoyed playing out there! Uncle Les and Aunt Barbara were there and got to hear all about the kids' activities. Gramma was there too. It has been almost a year since we saw her last and it was so good to be together! It was a fun afternoon being with everyone!  

We made a quick trip to Shreveport to spend time with family.  Our first stop was to see Pa Paw. He was eager to have us visit. Sarah Graves brought her flute and gave him a concert and Aaron and Charlie found out what help he might need with his technology.  We had the chance to see Grancy and Ger Ger's new house. Their view of the lake is so pretty! Zoe loves to be loved on! Grancy and Sarah Graves got busy baking a chocolate pie! Sarah Graves knows the recipe almost by heart just like Grancy! What a treat!