My love for you will be everlasting.
In April of this year, I lost my grandfather to a tiring battle of lung cancer. Losing a loved one is never easy, but this moment was particularly hard for me. He had been the only grandparent I ever knew as the others had passed before I was born. However, our bond was a special one. I wanted to write this as an ode to you, to show everyone what an incredible man you were.
So, thank you, Grandpa, for being the best grandfather a girl could ask for. No matter how bad your knees hurt, you’d come to all of my dance recitals and sit for hours on end just to see me perform a couple songs. You’d drive for half an hour just to go to that specific bakery that has the best prosciutto bread in all of Connecticut. No matter how crazy the year got, you’d always remember to send me a card for every holiday possible. You’d constantly remind me of how proud you were of me and I saw how genuine you were being by the look in your eyes. And despite the generation you grew up in, you wholeheartedly supported my decision to go into photography. You had told me that I had to do what would make me happiest and no matter what, I would make it work. You thought the world was a bottomless jar of opportunities for me and I had only just begun.
Something that always stuck out to me was your wedding band. Grandma had passed well before I was born, but you refused to take your ring off. As your fingers got slimmer, the ring stayed put as a symbol of your loyalty to her. Every time it caught the light it warmed my heart, as it reminded me of the man you were: strong, humble, and loving. There was nothing more in this world you loved more than your family.
Using the past tense to describe you still feels weird to me. Sometimes after a long day I have a split second where I remember to call and check up on you, but the thought soon fades as reality sets in again. We had gotten into a routine of calling each other a couple times a month when I came to college so 4 hours didn’t seem so far away.
So, thank you, Grandpa, for everything you’ve done for me. I know I’ll always have you watching over me.