I have been doing a lot of thinking since Friday. You see Friday, October 10th would have been my Grandpa's 95th birthday. This Thursday, it would have been my Grandma's 91st birthday. They both passed away 9 years ago, just 6 months apart. It was a big blow to my family, especially my dad since he was the only child and losing both your parents in such a short time was difficult.
I grew up having them living on the same farm as we did. So when I wanted to go visit them, I would just walk over to their house. I would spend night after night there. My grandmother was the one who would lay down with me at night and she would teach me the Lord's prayer. She would kind of do the fill in the blank. "Our Father, who ----- --- -----" And I would fill in the blanks.
I would go over to her house after I got home from kindergarten and we would have coffee together. Mine was 3/4 milk and 1/4 coffee, but it was the best. Nothing could compare to our coffee and cookie talks. I wish I could take those back and do them all over again. I would make sure that I took the time to go over there and have those talks when I was in high school or when I came home from college.
My grandfather was the type that always knew something was wrong. He knew how to fix almost anything including hurting hearts and minds. He would simply take you fishing on the river or down by our pond. He would just be quiet until you couldn't stand it anymore and tell him what was on your mind and then in his most gentle way he would give you a solution or something to think about.
Going home to Iowa, to the farm, is still sometimes hard. To see where there old house was, which has now been tore down and replaces with a new trailer house where my brother lives. I long to see their house and have my grandma sitting on the porch waiting for us to come home like we did when we got off the school bus. She always wanted to hear about our days. I long to go down by our pond and go fishing with my grandpa just one more time and tell him my problems and see how he would solve them.
I guess what I am trying to say through this, is take each moment that you have with the ones you love and treasure them. Hold them as tight as you can and never let them go.
To my grandpa and grandma, thank you for loving me so unconditionally and helping to make me into the person that I am today. I love you!
