Our feet slide against
Faux-wood floors
And I know
That they did not
Used to be there
But nobody else does
Or probably remembers
But I know I
woke in this here room
The sun spilling across a blanket
Sharing a bed with a person who
Is no longer at my level and whom
I duck away from if I catch sight
Of any familiar shape in a
Public setting
It was so lovely
Walking in
A warm house
Kids spilling through the doorway and
They fulfilled all the
Grandparent cliches
Sit down and get
Yourself something to eat
And we did
Laughing and talking and
Complimenting the good food
Later the camera appeared
To snap a few
Of course
To document the minutes
We sat around
Smiling
At their doing
We yelled trick-or-treat
Dangling baggies of the
Latter
Out not as bait but as
A reward
For childhood
For knowing what it was like and some of what
Lies on the other side
We kissed goodbye
All of us
Exchanging hugs and thank-yous
And touching cheeks
And traipsed outside
And it was nice
So nice
I think
And an all-familiar
Comforting
Scene
But when we are walking
She offers
The words
Your grandpa was so great
And I say thanks
Of course
And I think that
I know
And she goes
on to say
that she's never had
a grandpa before
and so that's what it was like
And I think back to how
Standing in the front room
That my feet have fell upon
All the years of my life
I think how she said she loved
The meatballs he made
And how he hugged her twice
And I could see him softening
Towards her cuteness
But I didn't know
It would mean so much
To her
And so mom
Runs back to tell him
After I've relayed this
Bittersweet
Exchange
But mostly I am thinking of
All the times those arms have closed around me
The I love yous
The Fleetwood Mac
The grilled cheese
Potato soup
And red solo cups of cheetos
The flitting through and
Closet
Hide-and-sink
How
He picked me up at nine a.m.
Last year that time
To make toffee
And I guess I knew I was lucky
And I guess I knew that not everybody
Gets that
But I guess I didn't realize that
The person who
Has been given it
Is me
Comments
Thank you, Kyleigh, for
Thank you, Kyleigh, for sharing that with me. The comment last night completely caught me off guard. I was swirled up in the nostalgia, and it just kind of broke that cloud. It showed me how truly thankful I need to be, and so I wrote this. Thank you again for reading it--for always reading my pieces, it's so appreciated.
This actually made me tear up
This actually made me tear up a little. It's lovely. You can really feel the sincerity in your words. My maternal grandparents are still around, but I was really close with my paternal grandmother and she passed away almost 10 years ago. I never got to meet my paternal grandfather. It was hard. So, this was lovely to read. As Kyleigh said, it brought up a lot of memories.
"You were not meant to fit into a shallow box built by someone else." -J. Raymond
This is beautiful.
This is beautiful. Grandparents are absolutely gorgeous, and reading this makes me feel so glad and blessed and happy and remembering memories that I have with mine. My dad never knew his own dad, so I never knew my grandfather. My dad's mum, unfortunately, isn't a big part of my life...the relationship was never there. My other set of grandparents, however, I enjoy the best relationship with. One of them has a serious cancer, and so this poem made me think how blessed I am to still have them both. Anyway, enough of my own story :)
I really like how you wrote this. Good job :)
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can’t we just go back to page one and start all over again?” – Winnie The Pooh
This is beautiful.
This is beautiful. Grandparents are absolutely gorgeous, and reading this makes me feel so glad and blessed and happy and remembering memories that I have with mine. My dad never knew his own dad, so I never knew my grandfather. My dad's mum, unfortunately, isn't a big part of my life...the relationship was never there. My other set of grandparents, however, I enjoy the best relationship with. One of them has a serious cancer, and so this poem made me think how blessed I am to still have them both. Anyway, enough of my own story :)
I really like how you wrote this. Good job :)
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can’t we just go back to page one and start all over again?” – Winnie The Pooh
This is beautiful.
This is beautiful. Grandparents are absolutely gorgeous, and reading this makes me feel so glad and blessed and happy and remembering memories that I have with mine. My dad never knew his own dad, so I never knew my grandfather. My dad's mum, unfortunately, isn't a big part of my life...the relationship was never there. My other set of grandparents, however, I enjoy the best relationship with. One of them has a serious cancer, and so this poem made me think how blessed I am to still have them both. Anyway, enough of my own story :)
I really like how you wrote this. Good job :)
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can’t we just go back to page one and start all over again?” – Winnie The Pooh
This is beautiful.
This is beautiful. Grandparents are absolutely gorgeous, and reading this makes me feel so glad and blessed and happy and remembering memories that I have with mine. My dad never knew his own dad, so I never knew my grandfather. My dad's mum, unfortunately, isn't a big part of my life...the relationship was never there. My other set of grandparents, however, I enjoy the best relationship with. One of them has a serious cancer, and so this poem made me think how blessed I am to still have them both. Anyway, enough of my own story :)
I really like how you wrote this. Good job :)
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can’t we just go back to page one and start all over again?” – Winnie The Pooh
Another poem that stayed in
Another poem that stayed in my head :)
...
As someone whose paternal grandparents passed away before she was 10 and whose maternal grandfather is partially paralyzed from a stroke, this really brought up a lot of emotion for me. Both sets are (or were) very involved in our lives but now there are two holes on one side and on the other a grandfather that can't do grandfatherly things like play catch. He has his own things that are so so special, like taking us to Starbucks and hugging us tight with his good arm, but those thoughts of "so this is what it's like" are ones I've had before.
Thank you.