Granddad
Well as we wind down the last year and decade for that matter it’s been a bit trying on the family. We lost my granddad this morning. He lived in England, where my mother is from and my where my father met my mother. He also lived in the first place I was stationed when i was in the military. I was lucky enough to spend four years of my life getting to know him in the UK. My granddad wasn’t much of a hunter, he got most of his killing out of his system in WWII in the R.A.F.
He was a simple man who, liked to drink a bit more than he probably should of and liked to spend his retirement money betting on the ponys. He had a calming effect on everyone around him, when you were in his company you felt safe and knew that the quiet man in front of you knew something about life. His wife (my nan) has been sick almost my entire life and she’s still with us today. The thing that’s been the most difficult for me to wrap my head around today as I sit on my couch watching bowl games and reflecting on things, is that I can’t find any reason to be overly saddened by his death. He lived a long life, better than most and I’m not sure he has left anything unfinished… he was there for everyone when he was needed, there for my nan through years of cancer and pain, there for my mom through cancer and the lost of child, there for my mom and nan when his daughter died last year, there for me when I was scared young man starting a family in a foreign land.
It’s almost like on the last day of the year he just said to himself that his work was done and as quietly and strong as he led his life, he left us. This is the time of year we tend to reflect on things and this year I reflect on a man who knew his place and position better than most and I can only hope that one day my grand kids and great grand kids look at me with similar eyes and know that I was there for them. It will never be the same without him but really I couldn’t of asked for more from anyone. He has shown me that it’s not how much time we spend with those we love but how we spend the time we have with them. We never shared a blind in the morning, our thing was sitting on his couch looking at photos from when he was in the war, I remember hours spent looking at photos of him in white T-shirts, a pack of cigs rolled up in one sleeve, sitting on a motorcycle in Singapore or some foreign place, with a girl in a long dress sitting on the back… that was our thing, the one thing that was just me and him, I think he liked that I served and we shared a bond and it was every bit as rewarding as sitting in a blind.
Cut and I have often spoke about the bonding and time spent in the blind, over the shooting and the hunting and I’m here to tell you it’s the memories made that last a lifetime, I have no idea how many birds I’ve shot or what my best hunt was but I know it’s measured in laughs and tears. I hope everyone has a great New Year and makes some memories that they can sit back and reflect on next time they’re sitting on the couch watching bowl games. May god bless you and your families and let’s make this a great year!
