For Our Hero
“I’m not sure if he ever knew it, but my grandfather left behind eight grandchildren who have all, in some way, carried on his legend. There’s the traveler [Annie], the sailor [Eric], the collector [Cindy], the navigator [Jeff], the teacher [Christy], the follower of dreams [Laura], the creative artist [Karen] and the journalist [Sarah]. Whether he was grandpa, grampie, G-Pa, grandfather, gramps or Grandpa Graul, he still made the same impact on us that we never ever took for granted.
Last night, in our grandpa’s honour, the eight cousins went bowling. It was more of grandma’s thing, as the tradition started at her funeral a few years ago. This was the first time all eight of us had been together since I, the youngest, was very very small. After we got our shoes, our balls and our beverages, we ended up being the only ones in the entire building. I guess we were having a little too much fun because, as we were leaving, the owner of the place said, “What are you guys celebrating?”
How do you say, “Oh, we’re celebrating a funeral?” How do you put it that the only reason we’re all together in the same place at the same time is due to the death of our grandfather? But Lulu, being the quick thinker she is, said, “We’re celebrating our grandfather’s life.”
Aside from the common traits we share with G-Pa, we’ll also remember the smell of his dark room. The little gadgets he made. The thickness of his hands. His piercing blue eyes. The way he played badminton. His electric lawnmower. His passion for fishing, photography and the river. How he shook your hand every time he saw you. His police scanner with the make-shift headphones. How he used to watch golf on TV although he never actually expressed any interest in the sport. When he wore two different shoes. The way he sometimes didn’t stop at stop signs. The collage of photos lining the walls to the upstairs at his house. The smell of his wood shop. Brown cows. The worn, dirty, dusty, dilapidated bear school. Crossword puzzles. Dominoes.
Several of us visited the Alton Museum a few days ago and introduced ourselves as Robert’s grandkids.
“Without your grandfather,” said Charlene, “there would be no museum.”
Without my grandfather, I thought, there would be no eight cousins to go bowling in his honour.
Thank you, grandpa. We love you.”
sarah truckey®
That is great! “The Collector” and “The Follower of Dreams,” indeed.
Man I have been to that Alton museum, it is tight! Here’s me an Frank Newton at the Wadlow statue across the way from it:
http://www.pancakeproductions.net/images/robseverson41.jpg