Great Grandpa Weatherholt

Your great grandfather Weatherholt passed away on January 6th of this year from heart failure. Both of you met Great Grandpa, but it has been about a year and a half since we last saw him in the nursing home in Hartford City, IN, and so neither of you remember him...which makes me a little sad because he was such a spunky, sweet man. He had had a stroke about 15 years ago which left his left side paralyzed, but he was able to stay in his home with your step great grandmother, Lorada, for many years because she was able to take care of him. About a year and a half ago, he had another major stroke which mostly paralyzed his right side. She was no longer able to take care of him on her own, and so he was admitted to a nursing home about 20 minutes from their home. Joshua, you met your Great Grandpa in Florida in their mobile home when you were a baby and also in their home in Montpelier, Indiana. Taylor met him in Montpelier and then both of you saw him in the nursing home a year and a half ago and entertained the other residents as you two strolled down the halls. You made their day! Great Grandpa was quite the jokester in his day and even after his first stroke, he still had his sense of humor and would crack jokes here and there. My favorite memories of him were him smoking his pipe at his farmhouse in Montpelier and the smell was minty and sweet. I really loved the smell of his pipe. He let us ride mopeds down the lane in between the fields and climb into the tractors and combine. We also liked to ride his bicycles down the country roads which was always a treat. Your step great grandmother, Lorada, was the only grandmother I remember because my grandmother, Delight, passed away when I was only one and a half. She and Grandpa always seemed very much in love, and your Grandpa Price told me that he loved both of them very much. We went to his funeral on January 11th in Montpelier and both of you spent most of the time running around and playing with Daniel, Lindsay and Ashley. Taylor had so much fun climbing the stairs in the funeral home and Joshua was running around with his partner in crime, Daniel. This was the first funeral that any of you had been to and I could tell that you, Joshua, were trying to figure it all out. You told me that Great Grandpa's body was fake, and I told you that that was really him. You just don't remember meeting him before. You sat through part of the funeral with me, which was comforting, and then when you started getting antsy, I took you downstairs with Daddy and Taylor for the remainder. Daddy got to meet all of my first cousins and it was good to see family members that I hadn't seen in years. We spent two nights with Aunt Angela, Aunt Christina and Grandma and Grandpa in the same hotel and all of you kids enjoyed the pools and hot tub. I hope that this experience was one that turned out to be a learning experience a life lesson that won't hold any scary or traumatic thoughts in your head. I remember my first funeral, and it was difficult to experience. You seemed to handle it really well and you went up to Great Grandpa's casket several times with Daniel to wrap your mind around the idea. I am proud of your bravery, Joshua, and know that your Great Grandpa and Grandma love you both very much!