A final goodbye

It's been a difficult two weeks in our house. First, we found out that Stephen's stepfather passed away following complication from surgery. I wish I could say it was a sad thing because we had a loving relationship with him before he died, but that wasn't the case. When Stephen's mom passed away, his step dad remarried very quickly and then chose not to have a relationship with us. It hurt our children deeply, & as the four years have passed since Steve's mom died, they've come to accept it, but the hurt has never fully went away. His death brought back all those feelings back to the surface, & they've been forced to face them and work through them. They will always love this man who they thought of as a grandfather, and 2 of the kids have forgave him for walking out of their lives. Hannah was only 4 when mom died, so she doesn't remember either grandparent well. We do have one child who was deeply affected by her grandfather's actions, & is working hard to forgive him for the hurt he inflicted upon her. Through this, I've learned that I can't always protect my children from pain, but I can teach them to forgive & feel the healing effects it brings. We've taught them that it is because of the Savior and what he did for us that we can forgive those that hurt us, and only hold on to the good memories. Before Steve's mom died, he was a good grandfather to them, & we are thankful for all the good times we had with him. Those times, have been, and will continued to be missed.