Lowe Family Circus: (Grandpa ) Calvin Matthew Lensmire

Grandpa Lensmire passed away on April 18th. He took off his oxygen and stated he "was going to rest for awhile." I realize you are never prepared to hear such news and the announcement surprised me by automatic heartpounding, breathless, sobbing, wailing weeping, sadness, punched in the gut sorta feeling of total disbelief, that grief is all about. Days later my family and my own puffy sad eyes and broken heart made it up to Grandma's to attend the funeral. The funeral was held in the same church my parents were married in, and the church has always held a special significance to me. The service was beautiful, or as they say in Marathon BEA-U-TI-FUL. The attendance was the largest ever. Once I got over my own saddness I started watching other's reactions and I am here to tell you my Grandpa has touched more lives in a bigger way than perhaps even he knew. I am SO PROUD to be my Grandpa's granddaughter. I was gifted with the opportunity to stand in front of church and read. I had the chance to declare to a standing- room- only- congregation about what a wonderful Grandpa we had in him. There is no unfinished business with his death. He had a life well lived and a simple, peaceful passing. Of course we all miss his BOOMING laugh already. But we have each other. The kind of togetherness my Lensmire family offers allows for tears and laughter. Hugs and jokes. It is a love that is real. And we will all move on from this event, closer to each other than the moment before. I am grateful for my family, for my Grandma who all too often I remind myself of. For my Mom (who is also my very best friend and owns the power of play), for her sisters my giggly aunties each one with their own super power (Lindy/Ocean the power of love, Anne the power of home, Louise the power of smile, and Cindy the power of spirit), and for my Uncles Mike and Matt, who look and laugh, alarmingly similar to Grandpa. And for my cousins, my many, many BEA-U-TI-FUL cousins who were my first friends and for their children who Lily slips in and plays with, because although we don't get together too often, we are one. We are familiar to each other, because we fall from the same Cal and Al Family Tree.

Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. ~Albert Einstein

Grandpa is survived by 7 children and 17 grandchildren, here are some of us...notice I got to stand by a giant, a New York Giant!