Last night at approximately 10 pm, the world lost a great man - my grandfather. At 94 years old, he had witnessed so many amazing pieces of history and made plenty of history himself as the father of 6 children. I have many found memories of spending time with him and my grandmother as a child in their large house. When my grandmother passed away, he moved forward by selling his home and continuing to live life to the fullest, eventually even finding himself a lovely girlfriend whom I fondly looked at as a second grandmother.
For many of his years he was very healthy, and only within the last few years did he really show any signs of age complications. I am thankful that I had plenty of time to perfect my goodbye and that I am able to mourn his passing with no regrets and only a sadness at the loss and a sense of happiness that he is no longer suffering.
When I was younger, I believe around 10 to 12 years old, I wrote a poem in his honor. It was a bit of a stretch, as I was never really interested in fishing, though he was in all truth a great fisherman and even made money on the side by selling nightcrawlers (and let me tell you, I can still remember the first time he opened up his basement fridge and it was full of buckets of worms - not a pretty sight lol!). But he inspired it, so it's always been "his."
Here's to you, Grandpa, and I hope you've found peace.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Grandpa, by Jessica Buike.
This morning it was so very
nice
that I decided to go fishin’.
I didn’t have a pole, so
I took yours without
permission.
I wasn’t trying to be bad,
and
I didn’t mean you any harm,
I just wanted to go fishin’
in that pond behind the farm.
I was being very careful as
I slowly set the pole right
in its special fishing place
that you showed me just last
night.
Then suddenly I heard a great
splash
and up from the middle of the
lake
came a gigantic fish, and
guess what?
Your fishing pole it did
take!
I would’ve fought the fish
for it
(I’m sure I could have beat
him!)
but you see, my dearest
grandpa,
I don’t know how to swim!
And so now as I am walking up
the lane
I’m writing you this note
to tell you I lost your
fishing pole, and that
next time I’ll take you and
your fishing boat!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Please note that this is a work that is copyrighted and the property of Jessica Buike only. Any reproductions or duplications will be considered copyright infringement. Thank you. ***
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
