Saying Good Bye

Early this morning my grandfather lost his battle with cancer.

The really sad thing is that I haven't had a relationship with him for the past 10 years. He missed so much of my life. He didn't see me graduate from high school or university, he missed seeing me walk down the aisle and he has never met my amazing little boy. There were many reasons why we became estranged and I'm not going to go into it here because somethings just don't need to be put out there for the world to read about.

All of those reasons aside, he is my dad's father. He brought many of the people that I care about most deeply into this world and for that he deserves my respect.

I have so many memories of spending time with Pop and going on adventures with him. I'm sorry that there have been so many memories that he isn't a part of but I can't do anything about that now. What I can do is go and pay my respects to the man that I choose to remember.

Pop used to take me to the farm to see where food comes from and on drives along the coast. After my grandparents divorced and Pop got his own house, I remember many a family dinner in his home. Pop was a great cook and I looked forward  to dinners at his place with much anticipation. He always had this enormous glass jar in his living room and it was filled with jumbo jelly beans. Mom and Dad would tell my brother and I that we couldn't have anymore, and Pop would sneak baggies of them in our pockets as we left. His house was always warm and he always had chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies on hand anytime we were there. I have to say that it was one of the best chocolate cakes that I have ever had and it paired perfectly with a glass of ice cold milk. I'm sorry that I never learned how to make it from him.



Pop, I hope you have found peace.