My Grandfather

It will soon be Christmas and my thoughts go to my father. Not that I have all these wonderful Christmas memories with him but because he was born and died in the month of December. He was my grandfather actually, but was the only father i ever had until after his death.

He had divorced my grandmother when I was very young. He used to call me and ask if I wanted to come spend the weekend with him and I always jumped at the chance. For a while I spent a weekend every couple of months with him but as I grew older the weekends grew longer apart. When I was 16 I lived with him for about 10 months or so but I was never comfortable there.

We only had a few things in common, our love for boiled peanuts, Hershey kisses, and professional wrestling. The man only watch two sports, wrestling and racing. I used to think he was secretly Mr. wrestling number 2.

I always thought of him as a great man even if I really didn't ever know him that well. The last 18 years or so of his life I was married and busy raising my kids. I didn't get to see him but a few times a year. his health wasn't the best the last 10 years of his life. He had several surgeries and heart caths. In the end it would be CHF that kills him.

The last time I saw him I had stopped by the hospital to see him. He was being discharged so I stayed and help get him to my cousins car. After i helped him into the car he looked at me and said "I love you". i responded with "I love you too". This was the first time that we had said these words to each other and it was the last thing we ever said. He died a week later.

I have no animosity towards him about this, in fact this is how I remember him out of all my memories this one is best. It was as he knew it was his last chance to let me know something I had known anyway.

jody criswell, macon georgia