06.02.2007 at 7:12 am
when the time comes
our pawpaw. three children, eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. a legacy that anyone should be proud of.
since my sister and i lived an hour away from our granny and pawpaw we didn't get to see them every day, or even every other day. growing up, we got to see them about once or twice a month. pawpaw would always pick with me and jami about being boys. i never really questioned why� he would say "Bye bye, boys!" as we left his house. and we always replied, "WE'RE NOT BOYS!!!" but always with a smile.
at 6'3", i remember pawpaw as a towering man. even though, i doubt he ever weighed over 180 pounds. a gene, i might add, that i didn't get much of. ;)
he always let me come and stay with him and granny for a week each summer when i was little. granted, i spent most of the time with granny, because at that time he was still working at vanity fair. but every afternoon i would help granny cook supper (yeah, imagine me, cooking?!) for pawpaw and have it ready for him when he got home. then we would pile up in front of the television, me and granny on the couch and pawpaw in his reclining chair.
i think i stopped spending a week with them when i turned about 12 or so. you know, boys and talking on the phone were like so much way cooler than spending a week with granny and pawpaw.
but when i went to college, there they were. i had decided to go to a local community college for a year, because after going to auburn's campus, it scared me to death. plus, i had gotten a full scholarship AND i was dating a guy that really didn't want me to leave him and go off to auburn.
so i went somewhere i felt safe and i could be close to my home and family.
granny and pawpaw's house.
they allowed me to live there with them for a whole year. and yes, i do realize that most grandparents would allow a grandchild to live with them. but i don't think i ever said thank you.
thank you for worrying about me when i had a night class and couldn't come home until almost 10. thank you for giving me a bed to sleep in at night. thank you for giving me a roof over my head. thank you for cooking supper. thank you for allowing me to be 18 and come and go as i please without question. thank you for helping me turn into a somewhat responsible adult.
i say somewhat responsible because a responsible adult would have already said those things. many, many times over.
pawpaw took care of my granny when she got so very sick. he was right there beside her until the end. he cooked for her. he washed clothes. he did everything in his power to make her life comfortable. he loved her with all of his heart. and when she passed away, i think a bit of him did too.
that was just over two years ago.
when pawpaw is gone, my father will no longer have any living parents. i can not imagine not having both of my parents. he seems to be taking all of this very well, but when the time comes, i am sure he will cry just as he did when granny passed away. as i am sure i will.
xoxo
tell me i'm beautiful...
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