A Joyful Broken Heart

Today is a day that I have dreaded for many years.  All logic tells me that this is just part of life and an obvious moment that I should have seen coming and yet somehow I am still taken aback.

Kayla, Grandad, and T.C. Summer of 2010

It is so hard to say good-bye to someone you love but I must remember that is also a wonderful celebration of a long awaited moment for my Grandfather.  So it is with a joyfully broken heart that I hand this amazing man over to the God that loved him into life.  Today, I will let go of my selfish desire to hold onto to someone that loved me and supported me unconditionally.  

I know that he is finally where he has longed to be.

The world that my grandfather was born into looked much different than the world that he left.  He has seen many hardships and joys in his life which had given him a great perspective of what was truly important.  I was so blessed to have received my inheritance of his great wealth of wisdom.  My grandfather understood what true happiness was and where it could be found.  He taught me that giving provided far more joy than receiving ever could and that  great wealth was not measured by dollars but rather by love.

I was so blessed to have had such a wonderful and close relationship with my grandfather.  I spent so many years with him creating a lifetime of memories that I will carry with me.  

When Todd and I realized that he was going to peruse a career in medicine, it was my grandfather that I told first.  Before I decided to homeschool my children I called my grandfather to hear his wisdom.  There are so many decisions in my life that didn't come until after I sought the counsel of the man that I held in such high esteem.  There isn't anything that he wouldn't have done for me or any other member of our family.

Every time we spoke he made sure to share with me all the reasons he had for being proud of me and how much he loved me.  But the lesson he reiterated the most was to cherish everyday with my children because all to quickly time will pass on this season of my life.

One of the greatest men that I have ever known,
Summer 2010

Joseph Aluise was not only a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather but he was a great friend.  This wonderful man received so much peaceful joy from helping others.  We will never know the multitude of people that my grandfather touched with his generosity.  He was a silent giver, never wanting recognition for helping someone in need.  His example of humility and kindness has shaped the way I teach my children as well as the way I interact with others.  I am so blessed to have his life as an example to me and to my children.

So today I say good-bye to my hero, a measure for all men.

Grandad, I love you more than words can express, you are and always will be a great source of strength and encouragement to me.  You have provided me with enough love to last me a lifetime.

Grandad with Anareese Summer 2011

Joseph Albert Aluise

1914-2011

My grandfather was a man of meek stature but profound presence, humble in spirit with a servants heart, he was an amazing example of Christ's love to all who knew him.

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