They say it’s hard to forget someone that gave you so much to remember. Grandpa was a jack of all trades… there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, it seemed. Spending long summers with him in Idaho fixing up the house and fun visits to southern California to watch the news for 15 hours of the day, I enjoyed every moment of it. I am richly blessed to have so many memories of him.
- Geraldine, the toy mouse he always had in his car.
- Waiting anxiously for his RV to pull into the driveway, the first of every summer.
- Listening to his 3 year adventure at sea on their 49 ft sailboat around the world.
- Ice cream rituals.
- Career aspiration talks on the front porch.
- Laughing painfully at the food that would mysteriously make it to his eyebrows at dinner.
- How his belly would shake every time he laughed.
- Long Canasta card games that would keep us past our bed time.
- Letting us have all of his collected coins as long as we counted every one.
- Telling me, “You can have anything you want”
- His shirt pocket that held literally everything.
- Saying “I’ll never eat again” after every meal.
- Our competitions to see who could take the most mints from the restaurant.
- And finally, one of my favorite quotes from him while getting my butt kicked in cribbage, “Kings are just Queens… with balls.”
He was one of the funniest people I knew, always something clever to say. My greatest pain is that my daughter will never know him. I remember the joy he had on the phone when I told him it was a girl, I remember how much he loved the name, I remember his huge smile when he saw her for the first time. But she will only remember, the memories I create for her. If only I could go back and say goodbye the way I wanted to say goodbye, but who am I kidding… I wouldn’t say goodbye.
See you later Grandpa, I love you.
