I had set the rose on
his casket and turned away sobbing. I just could not believe he was gone. I felt
like there was no one who could understand what I had felt. He was there and gone in very little time. My great grandfather was the best man
alive. We may not have been super close
when I was little, but as I grew up we grew closer and closer. No one is
perfect but he was to me.
My
grandpa and I shared so many things. He loved to sing as do I. He also loved to play piano and so did I. He also
played guitar which inspired me to start playing guitar. The most important
thing we shared was the day we were born. January 16th, our special
day. We had so many fun times over the few years we got to know each other. He
used to play piano just so that I would sing along. He loved to hear me sing.
He always had a huge smile on his face when we would sing together. I’m so very
glad that God gave me a chance to get to know my great grandpa before he passed
away.
On our special day, I would always call to wish him a
Happy Birthday. Usually within that week we would all go out to eat to
celebrate our birthday. I remember the first time we took him to eat at Olive
Garden. He was so excited because he didn’t get out very much. He always read
good reviews and heard people say good things about it. He was happy because he
drank some wine with his dinner. We all had a great night because he was in
such a good mood. I always loved that
whenever he would see me he would say, “There’s my birthday girl.”
My grandpa would always tell whoever was at their house
stories of when he was in the army. He served during World War II, against the
Japanese. You could tell he didn’t have a great memory as he got older because
he would tell the same stories over and over again. You could see he was as
happy as can be and that’s all that mattered to us. He would always tell at
least one story every time I came over whether I have heard it or not.
You could tell that he was starting to get older mentally
and physically. He started to get weak to where he had trouble walking and get
up from chairs. He would ask repetitive question, even though you told him
multiple times or he would tell you the same thing over and over again. Slowly
stated getting more and more sick. I didn’t get to see as often as I would have
liked. My grandma would send me updates on his condition ever so often.
One week in October my grandma called and you could tell
some was wrong, you could hear it in her voice. She said, “Caitlyn, I know your
great grandpa would like to see you soon. The doctors said it could be a couple
months, a couple weeks, or maybe even a couple days.” I quickly said okay, then
hung up and broke down.
About two days later I went to his house and he looked
really sick. He sat in his favorite
chair while we asked him questions. He was hard of hearing, so we would often
have to yell whatever we were saying. He wanted to play hi guitar and listen to
me sing. Holding back my tears we sang together one last time. I took a photo
of us, which I still keep to this day. He got tired so we left. A few days
later I got a phone call that he passed away in his sleep. I cried for days.
There we were at the funeral. It took me awhile to even
go up to see him. I gazed at him lying there, he looked so peaceful. Crying, I
took his hand, and whispered, “I’ll miss you.” And kissed his cheek. As I
walked away I started to remember all the good memories we had.
At the burial site
I sat there weeping. I watched as the men shot off the 21 gun salute. I took
one of the shells in memory of him. As it was time to leave I stood beside his
casket, I had set the rose on his casket and turned away sobbing.
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