Tonight was a little bittersweet for me. Mom and her sisters and grandma went through my grandparents house and some of the things that grandpa wanted me to have, were brought up when mom came two weeks ago. I waited until after my finance training in Chicago and my work week this week to go through things as I believed it would likely be an emotional time. To say that it was emotional would be a huge understatement.There are a couple minor things that I had hoped to get but were passed to others, like grandpas pocket watch given to him by his daddy that he had used on the railroad...but it had been given to another TW in the family so I understand. Same with the ring from his uncle bubba that was used as necklaces for my mom and aunts. But the things that grandpa did leave are absolutely priceless to me. There are a few fishing poles...including at least two that I know he sed while he and I fished together one of the many times. One of these poles even still had one of my grandpas favorite lures attached to it still...likely from the last fishing trip he took. I plan to keep these poles, as they are, and pass along two of them to my own son and bonus son so they too can have a piece of grandpas legacy and love for the outdoors. Grandpa gave me his hunting vest and it still had some shotgun shells in it. This is the same vest that grandpa wore on pretty much every squirrel hunting trip we took...and yes, it still has his scent in it! Between he and my dad, I learned at a young age how to safely handle a firearm and why it was important to only hunt and kill what we as a family needed for eating. Routinely Grandpa would share of the bounty we had...fish, squirrel, deer, rabbit...whatever we had caught or killed we would eat or share with others who would enjoy it! There were also some precious treasures that truly astounded me that my grandfather had kept. There were the sunglasses from my high school graduation...a Christmas card I had written when I was probably 5 or 6...EVERY SINGLE LETTER I had written them while I was away to basic training...letters I had sent home to them from Saudi Arabia when I was stationed there...a clock I had made him 20 years ago...letters from Korea...a letter from when I divorced...books with special messages I had written inside for him and grandma...a pocket watch with his beloved Marine Corps emblem on it...a plaque I had been given when I was nominated amongst the Whos Who in American Business a few years back...and the list goes on and on. Things that at the time seemed miniscule but now, in his passing, mean so much. Not the material value, but the fact that he loved his grandson and wanted to save bits and pieces from my life so that when he left the world, I would feel his pride in who I was to him. There were of course many sad pieces also...a couple letters from the deepest valleys of my life that only those closest to me even know about. It was a walk down memory lane for me for sure and in taking that walk, I was once again reminded that I I am the 2nd generation of someone who was truly a great great man! Once I put just about everything away...I played a song on one of the harmonicas that I had given him through the years and thought it was fitting that grandpa be remembered this way tonight through my tears of sadness but joy. It is the last song I ever heard my grandfather play on his harmonica and I heard it thanks to Pam Brooks-Blalock who recorded it during Campmeeting 2013 and remains as a treasure for me. The song goes like this... Some glad morning when this life is oer, Ill fly away...to a home on Gods celestial shore, Ill fly away. Ill fly away oh glory Ill fly away. When I die hallelujah by and by...Ill fly away.! Tonight, I played it on my grandfathers harmonica and I know that he has finally reached that Celestial shore that who knows, perhaps one day I will make it to!
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 02:32:47 +0000