the Bells of St. Mary's. ah, hear they are calling.
that was his favorite song.
it is so strange to think about how i have lived more of my life so far without him than with him. i was 13 when my grandfather died while on vacation in Minnesota, visiting family and attending his 50th high school reunion. he was and still is my hero and there isn't a day that goes by where i don't think of him.
whenever i feel totally alone, i can conjure up any of the countless memories that i have of him and in an instant he is right back here with me.
i remember him letting me have cap'n crunch for breakfast when my parents weren't around. i remember how he made the best peanut butter sandwiches in the world...with butter. and i would have them with a big glass of chocolate milk. i remember him taking me to the park to fly kites. i remember the golf caps he used to wear. i remember how he would get down on the floor with me when i was really little a he would pretend to be a gorilla...it was never scary and always funny. i remember that he looked a little like a gorilla with his long arms and broad shoulders (which i inherited from him). i remember driving to phoenix with him and my grandmother every other summer where we would swim until 10:00 at night and catch grasshoppers, crickets, lizards and fireflies. i remember his afternoon naps where he snored really loud, my sister and i would laugh and laugh... to this day when i think of that sound i cry. i remember going with him twice a year to get the collected cans recycled...he would let my sister and i split the money and then he'd take us to 7_11 for Slurpies and NERDS. i remember him catching me with my first dirty magazine...he thought it was funny. i remember walking home from school with my sister to his apartment where he would let us eat m&m's and malted milk balls while we watched love connection and the dating game. i remember how whenever i missed my mom, he had a way of making me feel better...i still don't know what he did, but it worked. i remember going for long rides in his '66 MG...that car is in my driveway right now. i remember going to the movies with him and getting mcdonalds. i remember going to the mountains with my family and singing willie nelson songs with him and my dad. i remember asking him if he was scared to die, he said no. i remember his love of life.
i remember the feeling that i felt when my parents told me he was gone. the feeling that the person you loved the most in the word was gone forever without any warning. the feeling of everything going silent and your head getting dizzy, and you feel completely helpless. it's one of those feelings that doesn't ever go away. it's just something that you get better at living with.
i still remember the look in his eye when he spoke to me, and the way the room would change whenever he was around. everyone loved him and he was always in a good mood.
i still love him more than anything and i miss him every day.
i love you, grandpa.
march 10, 1923 - july 17, 1990
that was his favorite song.
it is so strange to think about how i have lived more of my life so far without him than with him. i was 13 when my grandfather died while on vacation in Minnesota, visiting family and attending his 50th high school reunion. he was and still is my hero and there isn't a day that goes by where i don't think of him.
whenever i feel totally alone, i can conjure up any of the countless memories that i have of him and in an instant he is right back here with me.
i remember him letting me have cap'n crunch for breakfast when my parents weren't around. i remember how he made the best peanut butter sandwiches in the world...with butter. and i would have them with a big glass of chocolate milk. i remember him taking me to the park to fly kites. i remember the golf caps he used to wear. i remember how he would get down on the floor with me when i was really little a he would pretend to be a gorilla...it was never scary and always funny. i remember that he looked a little like a gorilla with his long arms and broad shoulders (which i inherited from him). i remember driving to phoenix with him and my grandmother every other summer where we would swim until 10:00 at night and catch grasshoppers, crickets, lizards and fireflies. i remember his afternoon naps where he snored really loud, my sister and i would laugh and laugh... to this day when i think of that sound i cry. i remember going with him twice a year to get the collected cans recycled...he would let my sister and i split the money and then he'd take us to 7_11 for Slurpies and NERDS. i remember him catching me with my first dirty magazine...he thought it was funny. i remember walking home from school with my sister to his apartment where he would let us eat m&m's and malted milk balls while we watched love connection and the dating game. i remember how whenever i missed my mom, he had a way of making me feel better...i still don't know what he did, but it worked. i remember going for long rides in his '66 MG...that car is in my driveway right now. i remember going to the movies with him and getting mcdonalds. i remember going to the mountains with my family and singing willie nelson songs with him and my dad. i remember asking him if he was scared to die, he said no. i remember his love of life.
i remember the feeling that i felt when my parents told me he was gone. the feeling that the person you loved the most in the word was gone forever without any warning. the feeling of everything going silent and your head getting dizzy, and you feel completely helpless. it's one of those feelings that doesn't ever go away. it's just something that you get better at living with.
i still remember the look in his eye when he spoke to me, and the way the room would change whenever he was around. everyone loved him and he was always in a good mood.
i still love him more than anything and i miss him every day.
i love you, grandpa.
march 10, 1923 - july 17, 1990
VIEW 19 of 19 COMMENTS
You made me think of my relationship with my grandpa. He's so cheeky
MWAH!
Jazz