Dying in the heat here and am shortly off to find a nice friendly looking air conditioning vent to collapse under... but wanted to make a quick post...
My grandfather died yesterday. We kinda knew it was on the cards over the last few weeks, so it doesn't come as any surprise but it did get me thinking about him a bit, as I last saw him around 20 yrs ago.
My childhood, as with many, i suspect, was a pretty frantic mess at the best of times, but I remember that visits to his house came like oasis of calm and serenity in an otherwise chaotic mix.
I remember his little chair, in the corner, next to a lamp and his books of stamps. I remember being confused, as a kid, as to why anyone would collect them. Little bits of paper from far away sounding places, it made no sense to a kid who's world didn't extend much beyond the little burb in london they were then living in. Now I'm older, I'm still not sure, but knowing of his love for some of the places they came from, I like to believe each one represented an idea, a dream, an imagined adventure in some far off clime, and that he kept them there, to look at, to remember, and to day dream.
I also remember his garden, and all the plants and things he grew. The little greenhouse of which he was so proud, with its boxes of wine, shelves of plants, and the smell of growing things. Again, never understood the effort he went to out there. As a child I couldn't comprehend of waiting for something to grow, if it wasn't immediate, or at least something you could watch develop over a short period, it seemed weird. 2 years ago I planted my first edible plants, and whilst they weren't a patch on his, I kind of understood this other thing about him too, and how it felt to make something grow, with your own hands, out of the ground.
Kind of gutted that things being as they were, I never really got to know him any better, especially as I usually claim in being a great believer in not leaving things unsaid, undone or unfinished. Guess its a reminder, if nothing else, to speak to the people i need to speak to, to follow up the things I keep putting off, and to make sure I take the time to know the people in my life that they really deserve, before the opportunity to do so is gone.
My grandfather died yesterday. We kinda knew it was on the cards over the last few weeks, so it doesn't come as any surprise but it did get me thinking about him a bit, as I last saw him around 20 yrs ago.
My childhood, as with many, i suspect, was a pretty frantic mess at the best of times, but I remember that visits to his house came like oasis of calm and serenity in an otherwise chaotic mix.
I remember his little chair, in the corner, next to a lamp and his books of stamps. I remember being confused, as a kid, as to why anyone would collect them. Little bits of paper from far away sounding places, it made no sense to a kid who's world didn't extend much beyond the little burb in london they were then living in. Now I'm older, I'm still not sure, but knowing of his love for some of the places they came from, I like to believe each one represented an idea, a dream, an imagined adventure in some far off clime, and that he kept them there, to look at, to remember, and to day dream.
I also remember his garden, and all the plants and things he grew. The little greenhouse of which he was so proud, with its boxes of wine, shelves of plants, and the smell of growing things. Again, never understood the effort he went to out there. As a child I couldn't comprehend of waiting for something to grow, if it wasn't immediate, or at least something you could watch develop over a short period, it seemed weird. 2 years ago I planted my first edible plants, and whilst they weren't a patch on his, I kind of understood this other thing about him too, and how it felt to make something grow, with your own hands, out of the ground.
Kind of gutted that things being as they were, I never really got to know him any better, especially as I usually claim in being a great believer in not leaving things unsaid, undone or unfinished. Guess its a reminder, if nothing else, to speak to the people i need to speak to, to follow up the things I keep putting off, and to make sure I take the time to know the people in my life that they really deserve, before the opportunity to do so is gone.
thanks for the friend request
kisses
happy weekend