Grandpa

It was a year ago yesterday that Grandpa passed away. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of him. I know. It's not very good quality and Grandpa isn't looking. I like it because of the story behind it. 
It was the last time my brother and I went to Tennessee with Grandpa. We stopped at a rest stop. There were tons of bright yellow dandelions growing all around. On a whim, Eric and I decided to make a dandelion chain. We ran around and gathered the flowers. It was finished just as Grandpa got back. Laughingly, we presented it to him, and to our surprise, he put it on. I'm glad Eric suggested we take a picture...

This is a poem I wrote about him and read a his memorial service.

Grandpa
By Melody Beerbower, September 15, 2011

Here is what I’ll remember about Grandpa
All my whole life through:
Grandpa loved to tease people 
It did not matter who.

One of my earliest memories of Grandpa’s teasing
Has to be this one
He once told me very solemnly
“You can’t play the trombone while sucking on your thumb.”

This one is my favorite;
Maybe it was Grandpa’s too,
We went to a restaurant that served water in pint jars.
This gave me an idea of what to do.

I drank down six pints,
But my stomach wasn’t stable.
It gave a heave and then 
All six pints were back on the table.

Grandpa laughed so hard.
He would never let it pass.
It would always start more teasing, 
When I got anywhere near a glass.

When I was much younger
It use to make me mad,
But as I grew older I enjoyed it
Now I’ll miss it bad.

Though Grandpa is now gone
And all his teasing done
They’ll linger in my memory
Sure as the rising sun