Grandpa

This morning I found that my grandpa past away. He has been sick a long time and I am glad that his suffering is now over. I hadn't talked to him since getting sick myself and I feel regret about that. For several weeks now I had thought "I need to call grandpa" and I just never did. His last few years on earth were rough but I have plenty of good memories of him.

I remember one time he systematically picked every single tick off a beloved dog of ours. He seemed to have a soft spot for all of God's creatures.

One time in grade school, I had this assignment where I had to make a sculpture out of soap of one of the Greek gods. (I know...random assignment...) Of course I didn't have a clue how to do it. So, I took a bar of Dial soap to grandpa. And a few hours later, I walked away with a pretty good interpretation of Zeus. I was the talk of the 3rd grade the next day.

That's one thing he always like to do- he like creating. He always had a thing for wooden ducks. He would paint them all different kinds of bright colors. And over the course of many years, he had himself quite a collection. On the phone this morning, my mom asked "do you want one of his ducks"? And I was like "yeah, that will be a good reminder".

All my friends always used to like him. He always wore a white beard and drove a sports car. One time he shaved his beard off and I got mad at him. He can't just go changing things on me like that.

I really wish I would have had the chance to say goodbye. Its a good reminder to always say the things to people that you need to say. Don't put it off.

My grandpa was always quiet and kept to himself. I guess I didn't know how to talk to him about real things very well. But he was always sweet and loving towards me. And every time I see ducks- I will always think of him.