Grandpa VanDenBerghe

In Loving Memory

My wonderful grandfather passed away on December 15, 2010, from the effects of cancer. He will be sorely missed.
We were set to leave for England that day, so I knew that we would miss his funeral that weekend. Fortunately, because we knew that missing his funeral would be a possibility, we were able to visit him one last time the Sunday before he passed away. I was worried that he would either be asleep the whole time, or that he wouldn't recognize us even if he was awake, but he was completely lucid and talked to us about out trip, and about Poppy. The sweetest part was watching Poppy lean over and grab his hand to say goodbye to him before we left. I am so glad that I have some fond memories of my grandpa, and that he was able to meet Poppy and know her for a time, even if her memories of him will be very limited.
My grandpa was always one of my greatest supports, and one of the best examples for my siblings and myself. He instilled in me a desire to serve a mission, which I knew I would do long before the time grew near. I am also grateful that he was able to be our temple sealer when we got married in the temple, and that he was able to be at Poppy's blessing and get to know her some. And my best memory so far, and one of the things I am still most thankful for, was a blessing he gave me about 3 years ago. Paul and I had been left devastated after failed IVF, a doctor telling us we would never be able to conceive children naturally, a couple of invasive surgeries, and 3 miscarriages. It got to a point where I felt like I wasn't sure if we should give up, but didn't feel ready to consider adoption yet. We decided to get blessings from my grandpa because he was someone that I always looked up to most, spiritually. I had faith in him, and I wanted a priesthood blessing from him. I remember him telling me in the blessing that we would be blessed with children, and that it would be sooner rather than later. He told me that I would be healthy enough to do this, if I obeyed the Word of Wisdom, treated my body right, and listened to what my doctor told me to do. It was only a few months after that that I found out I was pregnant with Poppy, and was amazed when my doctor told me that everything looked great and that my hormone levels were normal. And now we have a beautiful, healthy, happy little 23-month-old! That experience restored my faith, and I will always remember what my grandpa has done for my family. I really miss him, but look forward to the day that we will meet again.