It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved grandpa, known to many as "Grosspapa". He spent his last day doing one of the things he enjoyed most - travelling. Unlike the trips he did with us grandchildren, his daughters and son-in-law over the past 10 years or so, this one didn't go to Japan, China, Australia, or European countries, no, he didn't even leave Germany, but yet I'm sure it was a happy day for him. He had told me the week before that he wasn't worried at all whether anything might happen on the trip, since his favourite pastor went with the group.
I'm know he looked back onto his life with a smile, and enjoyed every minute of the time he had left. I'm sure his new daily routine consisting of an early lunch followed by him being wrapped up in a blanket, smoking a cigar on his balcony was a significant contributor to his happiness :)
My Sunday mornings - when he would call me on Skype at the same time every week, tell me what he had for lunch during the week and with whom he went out for his favourite food (Sushi), complain about the Greek and their horrible finances, question me about whether or not we can drink beer in Vancouver and whether we also have Oktoberfest, throw around wisdom in Latin and Esperanto, announce over and over
again how sad he was that none of his grandchildren had learned either one of these languages, and recite countless poems and stories that had been stuck in his giant brain for 5 decades or more - will now be empty. He will be missed by us and many others. An obituary by the European Go Federation can be found here (click me).
Being an optimist as he was, he would certainly appreciate a look at the bright side: I'm flying to Germany and I get to catch up with a bunch of people! Plus this gives me a chance to stock up our gummibear supply, which (with something like 4 packages left) is dangerously low at the moment! :)
