This is my Grandpa Wilford Lawrence holding Chad. Grandpa loved children, and they responded to his love by eagerly going to him even when they didn't know him.

Grandpa was a nature-lover. He loved learning about how mountains and valleys were formed, and he loved talking about it. He loved rocks. His yard was full of all kinds of beautiful and interesting rocks that he collected as he rambled around the hills in his old pickup, and he knew what they all were and how they came to be. He especially loved birds, and he built birdhouses and bird feeders to invite them to live in his yard.

He did many kind things for me. I remember things like one year I had a school assignment to make a rock collection. Grandpa helped me put it together and provided a display box for me to take it in. We lined the bottom with a piece of quilt batting, then put a cardboard frame over it that provided a window for each rock and a place to write what kind of rock it was. He knew how much I wanted a desk of my own. He found one that had been thrown away. He took it home, cleaned and fixed it, sanded, stained, and varnished it, then brought it to our house for me. When I was quite small he found a little discarded bike and gave it to my dad to fix for me. One summer he took me out pop bottle hunting several time to get a little money for me. We picked up bottles that people had thrown out of their car windows along the highway, then he traded them in for cash and gave it to me. He always had time to chat with me or give me a ride down the street to my house when I didn't want to walk.

I loved my grandpa, and I will be happy to see him again.