Last night I planned to stay up until I heard the news about my grandfather. By 7:00 AM I was wiped, and figured I would grab a bit of sleep. I got a call at 9:00 AM from my mother. Ernest Kratzer passed at 8:30 AM on September 10, 2007. It is a bittersweet occasion. His wife, my grandmother, died a year ago. He has been ready to go ever since.

I remember being a child and so fascinated by his amazing train setup. Hopefully in the next day or two I can locate a picture of this. Anyways, when I was a child, him and grandma had a mobile home. They also had a shed about half the size of the mobile home that housed their train setup. When I would visit, we would go out and see it.

Grandpa also loved fish (and fishing). According to my mother, they had a basement full of fish tanks and fish growing up!

Grandpa was not a rich man by the world's standards, but that does not say much. Well, perhaps it does, but in a different way. Ernest's treasures were where it really counted; in the next life.

When my mother was in her late high school years, my grandparents agreed to be the foster home for two children; Holly and Alan Burnett. As it turns out, they are now a part of the family, just as much as us who are direct descendant.

Ernest Kratzer lived a full life touching others. Even yesterday, I heard that he was quoted as saying, "I am keeping all of you up!" His humor stayed intact to the very end, and he went peacefully at 8:30 yesterday morning.

I have been asked to play at the funeral, and while it seemed impossible to make the trip a few days ago, it looks like it will be possible now.

Hannah and I will leave tomorrow (Tuesday) around 12 in the morning, and make the 12 hour trip to Rock Island. Please be praying for us, as we currently do not have reliable transportation. I have been asked to play at the funeral service, and will be sharing "Great Is The Lord".

Unfortunately along with everything else, we just found out that the alternator in our second vehicle, the one I drive (a 1990 Honda Civic) is bad. Turns out that Auto Zone gave us a faulty one to replace our old one.... So we will need to make the trip in our Sidekick. Please be praying for us, we need it.

And on top of everything else, it appears that I am coming down with a severe cold. I just hope that by Thursday morning I will be able/ready to sing.

Thanks for the prayers. I am sorry to turn the end of this post towards our needs, but we definitely need the prayer. I have been joking with my new co-workers at Starbucks that I should write a job called "How not to start a job".

God has blessed us beyond comprehension. Hannah and I just began new jobs, and we will be allowed to leave for a couple of days to attend this funeral. We are blessed so much.

Thanks again for the prayers. We love and appreciate every one of you.