til next time...
today is Epiphany. the end of Christmas for another year. it's time for my tree to come down & my blog to switch over to a football theme for as long as the Patriots playoff hopes stay alive. everything seems so much less... cheerful. ::sigh::
i know that it will be Christmas & i will get to enjoy the season all over again, but there is still that adjustment from everything being shiny & sparkly to just going back to normal. as time passes, the house feels less empty. there are some things that we won't get to enjoy again though, some emptinesses that, though the initial absence eases, never entirely feel... normal.
today is also the fifth anniversary of my Gramp's passing.
Me & my Gramp (Oct 1993)
my Gramp was an amazing man. i think i always knew it, on a very basic level, but i didn't realize the degree to which he was until i was much older... and it was too late. too late to really tell him. to really appreciate him.
you see... we lost Gramp long before January 6, 2003. he was lost in his own mind, held prisoner by Alzheimer's disease for several years before he passed away.
but i don't want to remember Gramp that way. that isn't who he was.
he was strong.
he was quiet.
he was generous.
he was honest.
he was filled with faith.
he was hard-working.
he was a loving husband. father. brother. uncle. grandfather.
he was my Gramp.
he was all the things a good man should be.
when i remember my Gramp...
i remember the man who would drive me to school because i didn't like taking the bus.
i remember the man who taught me good work ethic.
i remember the man who would make little quizzes for me to teach me spelling & math.
i remember the man who taught me all the state capitals.
i remember the man whose laugh would boom joyfully, such an abberation from his otherwise quiet demeanor, but so infectiously merry.
merry... like the happy tree that sparkled in the corner of my living room.
i remember him every day... and i wish that, like Christmas, i could just tell myself that i will see him again in a little while...
18 with their own thoughts:
Oh honey... if you truely want to see him... look in a mirror. You are a spitting image of him in every way.
Your Gramp sounds like he was an amazing man. I didn't know either of my grandfathers.
I took my tree down today too. My mom would've been proud!
Keri: It's way too insufficient but... *thank you*.
Janet: I barely knew my maternal grandfather, but my Gramp was like a second father to me & I am so blessed to have had him.
Thanks for sharing about your Gramp. It sounds like he was a special, special man and influenced a special, special girl.
I always know Christmas will come again, but I always mourn the end of the season. I love that you do too ;)
Dawn, what a great post. Your Grandfather sounds like he was a man all of us could look up to. And I think he'd be right proud of his Grandaughter today.
My maternal Grandmother has suffered from Alhzheimers for about 4 years now and has no idea who my Mom or any of us are. I think it'd almost be a relief for her to go on home.
You made this man ALMOST tear up this morning.
Stop it. ;)
Sounds like a nice guy, I'm sorry for your loss.
I like the hair!
I know how you feel. He sounds like an amazing man. I feel the same about my Nana (on a female basis, of course!!).
forgot to say that it looks boring when all the glitter is down, doesn't it?!!
Beautiful tribute to your grandpa. Today would have been my mom's 85 birthday had she lived. {{HUGS}}
((hug))
Oh, Dawn, I can totally feel you on this one. But I'm sure your Gramp knew exactly how you felt. He sounded like a wonderful, loving grandfather!
It does seem so drab when the christmas stuff goes away, doesn't it? I've always attributed it to the crummy January weather but maybe it's more a state of mind.
What a nice tribute to your Gramp, he sounds like a great man.
What a lovely tribute to such a wonderful man. :)
We took our tree down day before yesterday, too. *sniffsniff*
I'm so sorry, Dawn. I truly am...the missing him like crazy part just never goes away, does it? He truly gave you so many gifts of beautiful memories.
Respect to Gramps.
Hey, why didn't you wear your big glasses?
I can very much appreciate this post. (sigh) He sounds so lovely. I also just love the photo of the two of you. it's precious ;-)
Ingrid: It's hard to let it all go again for another year, isn't it?
Sorry, Ted. ;-)
Scott: I had a *lot* of hair back then! And the longer it gets, the more it curls!
Mamichelle: Makes you wish for just one more day, doesn't it? And, yes! It's boring & kind of... lonely without that tree taking up a whole corner of the room.
(((HUGS))) to you too, Jeanne.
Thanks, Chele.
Jenny: It *has* to be state of mind, because we don't get crummy January weather here!
Lis: Don't you wish you could just convince yourself to be redneck enough to leave it up all year? ;-)
Debi: No, it never does, but I am defnitely blessed to have all these memories.
2.0: Gimme a break. That was the style fifteen years ago. =P
Colleen: I know you do, hon. (((HUGS)))
Like we needed another reason to not like Ephiphany. :-( {{HUGS}}
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