Pampa Fraig

As I sit here writing this, I keep telling myself that this is all just a really bad dream, but Chris and I have both been up for several hours with no sleep, so I'm pretty sure, we wouldn't have had any time TO dream and I don't think we would both dream something as horrible as this!

Last night after we got home from Cameron's soccer game, we got a call from Chris' mom. She was at the Emergency Room with Craig and the Doctors were fairly certain that he had had a heart attack. Chris and his brothers went over to the hospital to give him a blessing. Within about 30 mins or so, Chris came back and said he was headed up to the University of Utah Hospital, Craig had been life flighted there.

I packed up Bubby, and all his things and went with him to the hospital for moral support. I never imagined as we drove into Salt Lake that we would be leaving in the next several hours with all of our lives completely turned upside down.

Craig had had a very bad heart attack, and despite the wonderful care the Doctors and Nurses gave to him through the night and early this morning, he passed away at about 4:00 a.m.

I've only been in the family for a couple of years, but from the day I met Craig, I felt welcomed right in with open arms! He truly was the easiest Father in law to love. I never felt like a daughter in law, I always felt like just another one of his children. I was even comfortable enough to go hang out with him and Anne by myself on the rare occasion's Chris was working or I was just home alone and needed some company. I called him for advice on a few occasions, and often called to tell him about the "crazy parents" I had just had encounters with while teaching. He was always up for a good story, and was a great listener.

He always made me feel special, and in his own way let me know how thankful he was to have me in his son's life. We had several conversations/debates about teacher's and their salaries,(He always thought we were paid too much) :) about politics, he basically converted me to his side of the political debates, church related things, and even just dumb stuff in the news that day.

He always had a story for everything, and even though I had heard many of them several times, I loved hearing them over and over again. He was a great story teller, and he had lots and lots of them to tell!

He was by far one of the smartest men I knew! The things he knew amazed me. He spent lots of time reading, and studying up on things that interested him. You could ask him just about anything and not only did he know the answer, he had an opinion about it too.

Some of my favorite times with him were just sitting with him at Cam and Reag's soccer games just talking about anything and everything. Lots of times the game would end and I would realize, I hadn't watched hardly any of it because I was so busy talking to Craig. In fact that was one thing I really missed yesterday. He and Anne were supposed to come to Cameron's soccer game and they didn't show up. I found myself looking to the parking lot several times for his big red "crapalanche" to pull in. It never did, and I was disappointed that I didn't have my buddy to talk to.

He ALWAYS had chocolate, and was actually the first person to introduce Bubby to his first real taste of chocolate. He had to share his favorite Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with him. He always promised Keric that he would take him out for his first Coke, and would get him hooked on "the nectar of the God's". You hardly ever saw Craig without a Coke and a Chocolate bar in one hand, and the day's newspaper in the other. It was hard for me to open my fridge this morning and see the Coke's that I had bought for him, while he was helping on the roof. It may be a long time before I am able to look at a Coke or a Reeses without tearing up.

He was a wonderful Grandpa, and Cameron and Reagan are going to miss him terribly. I am having a hard time not being angry about the fact that Keric will never know his Pampa Fraig. Keric has a little onsie that says "Spoiled By Grandpa", and he really was! Craig was always so proud of all of his grandchildren and their lives will be a little emptier now without him in them.

Chris and I were able to go on a trip with Craig and Anne the summer of 2007. We drove to Oregon with them and stayed in a time share condo that one of Anne's friends wasn't going to use. That was such a fun trip, and I am so glad that we got the chance to spend a week with them. It was just the four of us, and I never did feel like I was on vacation with my in-laws. I felt like I was on vacation with my friends! We laughed so much on the trip, and that will be a memory that I will treasure forever!

Despite the sadness that I feel, I can't imagine the pain that Chris feels! I feel so horrible for him. He is being so strong. Not only is his Dad too young to be gone, Chris is WAY to young to have just lost his father! He and his Dad were best friends! They talked pretty much every day, and talked about anything and everything. It's hard to hear him pounding up on the roof alone. I'm so used to hearing two hammer's going, one Chris' and one Craig's, and over the pounding I could hear Craig telling Chris stories. It was comforting to me to know that he was up there helping him, and at the very least keeping him company. Despite the fact that Craig was petrified of heights, he came over and helped Chris every day that he worked on the roof.

I will miss him dearly! Sunday evenings will never be the same! Who will call Chris and I and invite us to meet up and see the latest movie, or to meet over somewhere for dinner on the spur of the moment? Not to mention that the presidential race just doesn't seem as exciting or interesting now with him gone.

Thank You Pampa Fraig for the example that you were to me, and for the kindness and respect you always showed to me. I will never forget how sweet you were to me after Keric was born. We came to your house to pick up the doggies, and I had yet to shower in my own shower, and sleep in my own bed, and was not looking my best by any means. You told me how wonderful I looked for just having had a baby, and that in fact I looked better then anyone you had ever known after having a baby! You told me if you didn't know better, you would think that Chris and I had just come from a movie! You made my whole day that day.

You touched so many lives in your short life! I love you very much and will think of you often. You were more then just my Father in law, you were my friend, and my Dad away from home! I will make sure that even though Keric won't remember his Pampa Fraig, he WILL know him, and love him, just as his Mommy did. I love you Craig!