My grandfather passed away today.
It had been almost two years to the date from when my grandmother passed away, his wife of over 60 years. I've written about him many times on this site, how he had been suffering from Dementia and been in a home for about a year and a half now. I feel almost positive about his passing, though. He hadn't been living a life for a little while and was merely existing. This way he can be with my grandmother and take her to Bingo in the great hereafter.
To know my grandfather was to love him. He had a killer smile, great laugh and loved the ladies. Even as recently as when I saw him at Christmas. He might not have been able to say much of anything but ask him about his favorite nurses there and a huge smile would spread across his face.
I used to spend summers down Cape Cod with my grandparents. They had a motor home in a campground and I used to really look forward to seeing all of my "summer friends" down there. Everyone loved my grandparents, calling them "Big Al" and "Ms. Ellie". They would have big Sunday type dinners and campfires and have people over. They loved the attention and Big Al was always holding court.
My grandfather loved to build things. He was like a mad scientist inventor, always coming up with some new gadget. His favorites were building television stands with swivels so he and Nana could watch their game shows (or his news...he always wanted to watch "the weather" for some strange reason) from any angle they so choosed.
He was an engineer in World War II and has two Purple Hearts and an Oak Leaf Cluster to show for it. He still had shrapnel in his chest the day he died. One of the Hearts was from "friendly fire" when Americans mistakenly bombed a bridge that he had built, thinking it for an Axis structure. The second was from a bullet, a shot in which a pen in his chest pocket diverted the bullet enough to save his life. He still has the pen. It's funny because to look at him you would never see an Army veteran that had been shot. He wasn't that guy at all. He didn't like to talk much about the war aspect of those times but loved to share the funny stories. I remember once when I was little I asked him if he had to kill anyone during the war. He just looked at me with a very serious and sad expression and wouldn't answer the question. The silence spoke volumes. Of course he had and that wasn't something he ever wanted to think about again.
One of my favorite stories about my grandfather was during one of our yearly Fourth of July barbeques. They were always held over my grandparents' house because of the enormous yard and screened in back patio. This year my cousins were on a kick that they were going to "blow up Uncle Al's shed" (which he, of course, built himself). My grandfather loved pranks and had gotten them for years so they said this was going to be his payback. He blew them off and we went about our business. Later, in the evening, one of my cousins had a cord running from the shed to what looked like a a plunger based detonator. He said "that's it Uncle Al, I'm doing it!" and pushed on the plunger. All of a sudden this burst of flame and loud BOOM comes from behind the shed.
"Oh my God, you did it!! You blew up my damn shed!! What the hell is the matter with you?!?!?"
Out from behind the shed walks my other cousin holding his gun powder powered musket revolver. He had just shot the gun behind the shed (no bullets or anything, just the powder for the noise and look) and everyone was in tears laughing.
"God damn you, I thought you really blew up my shed." Then he starts laughing his famous laugh, "you got me, you little bastards, you finally got me"
I'm going to really miss them but I'm glad they're together again. The two years they were apart when Nana died are now merely a blip on the radar. I'll leave you with one of my lasting memories of their relationship, taking place soon after my grandmother died. This sums them up perfectly...
We took Papa over to the cemetary to visit. This was when he could still speak somewhat ok. He sits there for a minute and says, in his now gravelly deep voice:
"I miss you. I miss you even though you called me a sonuvabitch."
That about says it all.
