Until we meet again...{Terry Renner 7.25.14}

My father in law went to be with Jesus last Friday night after losing his hard fought battle with cancer.

Just typing those words breaks my heart.

Terry's favorite cowboy hat that he wore to our wedding 5 years ago.

Terry has been like a second father to me since I started dating Drew 13 years ago when I was just 16 years old. From the first moment I met him he treated me like I was part of the family. I was always just like another daughter to him even though he already had 3 of his own. I am so thankful for the relationship that we had.

Terry always made everyone laugh. We would go to a restaurant and he'd have our waitress laughing. We would go into a store and he would have the employees cracking up. Even when he went in for his chemo treatments the nurses always looked forward to hearing what he would come up with to make them smile.  He was always pulling pranks and telling corny jokes to lighten the mood.
Terry loved his family and was always over at our house fixing something or checking the air in our tires, making sure that we were okay. He always put his kids first and taught them how to care for others. I am forever thankful to him for raising the most amazing man I know, his son.

I'm glad for the many years I got to spend with Terry, but I am so incredibly sad for the years that he will not be a part of Drew and I's lives and that he will not get to meet his first grandson on this Earth.

I know he would have been the most fantastic grandpa, "Pops" to Aiden. The day we told him he was going to be a grandpa he was absolutely thrilled. I didn't know until recently that he took his grandpa cup around to all our neighbors and shared the news with them. Our neighbor Pat just told me that when Terry came over to tell her that he was going to be a grandpa she thought he had just won a million dollars. That is how excited he was to be a grandpa.

I am sad that he won't be here to welcome Aiden in October. I am sad that he won't be here for Aiden's first Christmas or his first steps, but Aiden will definitely know his grandpa through all of us. Our house is the same house that Terry grew up in so Aiden will grow up in the same room that Terry did as a child. He will play games in the same backyard that Terry did growing up and I pray that he will love people and love life as much as Terry did.

I know missing Terry won't stop after today. I pray that I can love better because of how he loved me and how he loved his family. Thank you Lord for allowing me to know such a wonderful man.

Hold your families tight today and tell them that you love them.
Time with them is precious.