My grandpa Baior died yesterday morning. He was 90.

My grandparents were my two favorite people. They were young at heart, very laid back, and easy going. My grandma died a couple of years ago, and now my grandpa has gone home to her.

My mom's mom and dad. The name is pronounced "byer", but everyone always pronounced it "bear". It was a name that was even longer, and got shortened when they reached Ellis Island.

His parents came over on the boat from Lithuania, barely speaking english. He was born here not long after. He met my grandma and they got married when they were in their early 20's. They were married for 66 years, until grandma died. He fought in WWII, and was wounded. And he never talked about the war.

We'd go to their house and my parents would play cards, when I was young, and I'd fall asleep to the sound of his voice. He had a deep voice, and a slow chuckle, which I'll always remember.

We helped them pack up and move to Tennessee when he retired, to be near my grandma's sister. We got them t-shirts that said Ma Baior and Pa Baior (kind of like ma & pa Kettle ). Kind of a joke, since they'd be living in the country (or, back in the hills, as my aunt would say).

For their 50th wedding anniversary, we planned a surprise party in Tennessee. I went down for the weekend, and the rest of the family stayed at hotels in town. I took them out for dinner. I told them I reserved a room, since it was their anniversary. We opened the door, and there was the whole family, all lined up. Their mouths fell to the floor when they saw everyone. We all sat down and had a great time. Then we headed back to their house, and took pics, talked, and when it got dark, played poker and shot off fireworks. It was the best party.

After about 10 years in Tennessee, they decided to move back to Illinois, to be near family. A few years after that, I quit my job, and didn't work for about a year and a half, so I'd go over there almost daily, and drive them wherever they needed to go. Grandma quit driving when they moved back, and grandpa started having trouble and made the decision to stop driving. This was a very hard decision for him to make, it's like taking away your independence, although he made the decision himself. To him, the other driver was more important. I took care of them while I was off work.

They were in the hospital on and off for short periods of time. So, I'd take one to see the other. I'd drop them at the door, then get a wheel chair (neither could walk very far by then), and wheel them through this huge hospital, to see the other one. Once, they were both in the hospital at the same time, so the nurses put them in the same room! They thought it was great.

We had great conversations, and we would talk about everything. They were more like great friends, rather than grandparents. Although they were still grandpa and grandma. I'd take my golden retriever over to visit them. They had always had a dog, and missed them terribly. Murphy was such a gentle dog, and they loved him.

They were happy with the simplest things. Once I got them matching soft fleece blankets for their beds. By that time, they needed the type of beds that were similar to a hospital bed. He thought the blankets were the coolest (warmest) things. It was hard on them, having to sleep apart for the first time since they got married.

When my grandma passed, grandpa was in the hospital, very ill,  and he could not come to the funeral. What a terrible thing. He never said anything, but I know he was upset about that. He missed her terribly.

He never complained about anything. I only saw them argue once in my whole life, and it was about whether a storm they'd had in Tennessee was a "gully washer". It only lasted a couple of minutes. I never saw them angry with each other, although I'm sure they had their moments when they were young. He was happy to have her, and she him. They loved each other in a quiet way, but you knew it when you saw them. He taught me a lot about life, without even knowing it. I learned so much from them both. My grandpa was a kind, gentle, compassionate, intelligent man, with a lot of common sense. And he loved dogs. He cried when he told me about how he found their last dog, injured from a larger dog's attack. Such a good man. Definitely the end of an era.

I will miss him terribly.