Saturday, October 22, 2011

Someone Like You

It has been a long week, my friends. Mostly because my grandfather passed away on October 15 and I've been hurting and rushing around ever since.

My grandfather was a complicated man. Throughout his service and the luncheon that followed everyone kept saying, "Calvin had simple tastes."  I don't think that is quite accurate. It implies that he was simple, which is the furthest thing from the truth.  He had 7 siblings and he was the odd man out. While they were all straight laced children of the local Baptist minister, he walked his own path.  From what I've been told he has been a heavy drinker for the last 50 years and I know that he was also a chain smoker. Once, as a small child, I went up to my Grandpa Calvin and said, "Smoking isn't good for you, you know."  He replied is his deep timbre, "You aren't my mother, you don't get to tell me what to do." I shut up. Haha.

That was the thing about my grandpa, his voice vibrated in your chest.  He had this voice that could scare the paint off the walls.  When people meet my dad they tell me how deep his voice is, but it doesn't compare to Calvin's. It made his words leave an impression on you. He wasn't a big man, but I didn't realize that until Thursday, when he didn't say a word.

I'm not sure if it's because he was my grandpa that I wasn't afraid of him or because I naturally see through that kind of thing. (Probably the grandpa thing). I rarely saw him but we called every now and then and they were the easiest conversations to have. I'm not sure why, because we didn't have much in common, but I could talk to him at length without there ever being an awkward pause or verbal filler.

I really will miss him.  He made my dad and my uncles who they are. He made me who I am.

Rest In Peace Calvin

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