Grandpa

On Friday night, Dec. 3rd I made my way to hospital to say goodbye to my grandpa.  A trip I never wanted to make.  Although I'm grown and know that life is only momentary and not guaranteed forever, I don't really want to believe it's true.  Then someone sent me this quote:

"Although it's difficult today to see beyond the sorrow,

May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow."

And so it sparked me to write this post. My grandpa wasn't one for tears and being sad but rather for memories and family. And so in honor of grandpa I thought I'd post some of my memories. 

 I remember...

*Always seeing grandpa in his yard, cutting grass, planting flowers or washing "Big Bird", their big yellow car.

*Living at grandma and grandpa's house and taking grandpa his ice cream, cookies, or oranges to his bedroom at night as he watched his old movies or..

*Hearing him coming for his late night snack as his ankles cracked all the way down the hallway. ;) 

*Going to church at St. Gabe's where everyone knew grandpa and then going out to breakfast with their many friends. 

*How much he loved being a Catholic and how scared you'd be to miss church and have grandpa find out.

*Organizing all of grandpa's movies for him. Which was quite a big feat for a 12 year old, especially if you knew how much my grandpa loved movies.

*Watching Ice Castles together.

*How I learned my first cuss words from grandpa :) "Son---of---a--(I'll let you fill in that part). He was Italian of course and had a temper to match.  

*Eating dinner with grandpa and waiting for him to scoot his chair back and get into the cookie drawer that he strategically sat right in front of.

*Being so happy when he finally gave up those Camels. 

*Going to dinner and knowing for sure that grandpa would be ordering a Vodka Gimlet. 

*Talking to grandpa one minute and realizing he was sleeping the next.

*Those handsome sweaters. The man enjoyed his clothes.

*His love for his sports teams. He saw the Bengals through good times and bad.

*How he would yell the boys names as they entered his house.  

*How much he loved my babies and their visits. 

Those are only a few memories that I have of my grandpa and I don't know if having those memories make it easier or harder to lose him. We all know that grandpa is at peace now, no longer in pain, no longer unable to do the things he loved.  We love you grandpa.  

On a lighter note. Here are some things Drew has said since his Pops Nick passed away.  

After telling him Pops Nick went to heaven: 

"He had to go to heaven last night? He didn't take Nana Nancy did he?"

"I wonder if Pops Nick has some dog food in heaven to feed Winnie? Winnie loves dog food."

"Mama, I think Pops Nick can find a parachute up there and then he can come back down."

Don't we wish.

LOVE YOU GRANDPA