A warm thank you to all my friends and readers that have sent my family and I well wishes and prayers. It has been a hard week, but today Baba passed peacefully from life. My husband, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law were all with him.

I have spent a little time each day this week looking at photos from over the years and remembering what a blessing Baba was to my life and that of my children. I thought I would share a few of them with you. The photo above was taken at Linc and I’s wedding in June 1998. Baba was Linc’s Best Man, though I was still calling him “Bob” at that time.

Bob loved being a grandfather. I’m so happy I caught some of the funny and sweet moments of him with the kids when they were tiny. They don’t remember these moments, but they love the photos too.

This was a photo of Bob with his dog, Cindy. She was a stray that went thru quite a tough time before she found Bob and my mother-in-law.

This photo was taken the same day as the one with Cindy. We were all in our backyard building a play-set for the kids. This was the day that Bob became Baba. My oldest named him Baba that day and Bob liked it so much that from that day onward he was Baba for his grandkids.

Funny thing is, many months later, we found out that “Baba” is the word for father or grandfather in Turkey. My mother-in-law was Nana from the moment the first baby arrived, but Bob had just been “grandpa” until then. From that point onward they were Nana & Baba and the 2 of the most important people in my children’s lives.

Thank you Baba for all the wonderful memories and all your love. We love you and will miss you.