Wishes
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 10:18AM This post is an installment in my Memories series. You can read all posts here.
This photo of my grandfather makes me wish for many things. But most of all, it makes me wish that I had more time with him.
This photo is from 1991, when my mom took baby Lars and went to visit my grandparents on their farm outside Witchita, as my grandfather had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and wasn’t doing too well. He passed later that year from complications after the cancer spread throughout his body. I remember the day my mother sat us down in the living room, red-eyed and shaky, to tell us that he’d passed from “leg cancer”. Because, really, what else do you tell a seven- and five-year-old?
This photo does so many things: reminds me of Lars’ way of kissing when he was a baby (drooly mouth wide open, ew!), shows me how skinny my grandfather had gotten, and gives me a peek into their home that I don’t remember, full of treasures from their travels and homes around the world. {They had lived in Iceland, Norway, Seattle, Connecticut, Cairo and a few more places by the time my mother hit high school.}
It’s one of my favorite photos.
The secret blessing to losing family so young, which I realize more and more every year, is what an appreciation it’s given me for the family I still have. Sure, they drive me crazy, but when tempers flare, more often than not the thought “But what if tomorrow…?” pops into my head and I’m over it. It may be an hour or two later, but still. Life is too damn short.
Thank you, grandpa. You were an amazing man and we miss you all the time.
xo
P.S. Yes, I'm totally crying while writing this. But it's a good cry.
Reader Comments (4)
I love this picture too! It is filled with a lot of love- also since it shows an intimate moment between the youngest and eldest members of our family. The table in the background is classic Grandma and Grandpa.
It's a beautiful photo. Thank you for sharing these lovely memories, *hugs*
What a lovely photo, and wonderful for you to be able to remember him. I've learned this message of appreciating family a lot this past 6 months - I guess that is the secret blessing. xoxo
Good lord woman, you made me cry!
Love photos like this, reminds me of one I have of my grandmother of her and I. Will post soon in my memories category on the bloggy.