On Saturday, June 3 we attended Grandpa Koepp's Memorial Service at Evergreen Cemetary in New Lebanon, NY. Kenneth Gilbert Koepp died at age 82 on December 27, 2005. As his fellow veterans testified at his funeral, Grandpa Koepp embodied the merits of a true soldier--courage, honor, and sacrifice.
His grandson Aaron Koepp told a story at the Memorial Service that nicely illustrated how Grandpa will be remembered by his six grandkids. One day, when Aaron was young and living with his grandparents, he told his grandpa that Dave (Bob's brother) had skipped school to go fishing and Aaron wanted to go too. Grandpa told Aaron to sit down and he left the room. He came back with a piece of paper on which he had written an excuse for Aaron to get out of school so that he could also go fishing. He handed Aaron the note and said sternly, "Just don't tell Nana!"
Some day we'll tell Charles Kenneth about his Great Grandfather and namesake--how special Grandpa was to so many. Bob and I will always remember the continuous line of people who steadily streamed in and out of the funeral home over the course of three hours, how he had touched each one of them in some way. We'll also remember the stoic sound of the bugler while two soldiers folded up the American flag and laid it on Nana's lap. We only wish that Charlie could have sat on his Great Grandpa's lap and listened to his stories -- how Grandpa's eyes would have twinkled then!
Cousin Brenda
Uncle Dave
Cousin Dan, Mateo and Aidan
Charlie and Aunt Judy
Aunt Toodie snuggles with Charlie
Nana and Grandma play with Charlie
Aunt Esther holds Charlie
Cousin Aaron and Nannette
Charlie is a pro at swimming now and loves to "swim" with his legs and arms all going at once. We had fun at the hotel pool in DC and had to laugh when some other people there asked us how old Charlie was and said they had been guessing his age. When we told them he was (nearly) 5 months, they looked really surprised and said one had guessed 7 months and one 10 months! Charlie's girth is quite deceiving...
Charlie's cousins, Emily and Jayne Bannister, competed in the pig show at the Orleans County 4H Fair. Charlie decided to don his overalls and check it out. He actually loved it! He was passed around from Aunt Jan, to Uncle Stu, to Great Grandma, to Cousin Victoria... but never took his eyes off of the action. Congrats to Jayne and Emily on their impressive performances; those pigs are not very cooperative!
Charlie felt so privileged to meet Jess at last! Although he was a little dismayed to find out that Jess loves shopping maybe even more than mom, he was relieved to get to stay home and do yard work with Dad while the two girls went from store to store. Later, we all went to the drive in (with Aunt Kat and Tom too) and, we were happy to find out, this is a really good way to "go to the movies" with an infant. He slept peacefully in his car seat during the movie and totally loved the popcorn (not really Grandma).
OK, so some of the outfits Bob wore when he was a baby weren't as cool. Charlie was amused by this lemon yellow leisure suit, but made it clear that he wouldn't leave the house in it. Baby bell bottoms, are you serious?
Grandma Adams sent some of Bob's clothes from when he was a little boy. Charlie really likes this super cool track jacket. It says "Good Boy" on the front, which is usually appropriate. Bob is the best at getting Charlie to laugh. It seems the rougher he gets with Charlie, the more he likes it!
On Saturday, June 3 we attended Grandpa Koepp's Memorial Service at Evergreen Cemetary in New Lebanon, NY. Kenneth Gilbert Koepp died at age 82 on December 27, 2005. As his fellow veterans testified at his funeral, Grandpa Koepp embodied the merits of a true soldier--courage, honor, and sacrifice.
Cousin Brenda
Uncle Dave
Cousin Dan, Mateo and Aidan
Charlie and Aunt Judy
Aunt Toodie snuggles with Charlie
Nana and Grandma play with Charlie
Aunt Esther holds Charlie
Cousin Aaron and Nannette
"Uncle James" and "Aunt Sonya" came to visit Charlie and everyone had a whale of a time (ha ha)
