My sweet grandpa Hubbard passed away last night. It was quite unexpected for me. He was 94 years old but I thought he'd live to be over 100 since his mom lived to be 105. He went to the hospital last week, two days before Thanksgiving because something just wasn't right. It turns out that he had pneumonia but didn't manifest any symptoms. A few days later they started worrying about his kidneys...he started having kidney failure. Sunday night he slipped away into a restful sleep forever. I know without a doubt that he has been reunited with my amazing grandma (his sweet wife) and his own parents.
I have fond memories of grandpa that I will never forget. Once, right after he returned from his mission to Washington, he took me for a ride in his 2 door Toyota Celica, manual. He decided to show me how to make the car "jump". He proceeded to let the clutch out very quickly and the car jumped forward with a skid. I remember going to his office in downtown Salt Lake and playing with his cool machines. I also loved that grandpa called grandma Hubbard "Chris". Like a little pet name. It wasn't until I was a lot older that I finally figured out he called her that because her maiden name was Christiansen.
It was always comforting to be around grandpa. He loved everyone and enjoyed anyone's company. He is an amazing pianist and even when he went legally blind with macular degeneration, he continued to play by ear twice a week at nursing homes. He motivated me to continue playing the piano even when I wanted to quit a hundred times. I loved going to his house with my stack of music and playing until I got bored but he never got bored of listening.
Grandpa was an amazing person and he will not be forgotten.
