My Grandpa, My Hero

For as long as I can remember my grandpa has always been a big part of my life.  I remember growing up and always knowing who he was and having such good times with him.  There are tons of memories to chose from but there are three that stand out the most to me.

The first was going out the this Italian restaurant with my grandparents and family, at the restaurant Granpa (I always pronounce Grandpa without the D and I call him Ganpa) would give me, Robert, and Allison to play the arcade games while we waited for our food.  Most of the time me and Robert would blow through our quarters and then ask him for more which he gave us after we ate, Allison was smart in making her quarters last until our parents called us over to eat.  I love those memories most because Granpa never seemed to run out of quarters.  I still don't know if that was 'cause he was always prepared when we went to the restaurant or if he just liked caring around a bunch of quarters (I was never brave enough to ask.)

The second memory was before I learned how to swim and Granpa rescued me.  It happened when my brother was helping Granpa drain out the pool and they were in the process of filling it back up.  Allison and I were wandering around on the deck that surrounded the pool and decided to get our hair wet.  I'm sure you all can figure out what happened next.  Well, the water was just hair enough to get Allison's hair wet (she had longer hair and was taller by the way) but not mine so I leaned farther forward until the ends of my hair got wet.  Needless to say I lost my balance and fell in the deep end of the pool.  I don't remember exactly how I old I was but I could not swim and I could not touch the bottom because I was too short.  The next thing I remember after falling into the pool is Granpa rushing over and helping me out of the water.  After that well I avoided the edges of the pool and the deep end of the pool for a very long time (unless I had floaties on.)

And the third which my family still teases me about to this day is the time I asked Granpa how old he was.  So all the family on my mom's side used to live in California and they slowly migrated up to Washington...my immediate family stayed in California until a few months after my grandma passed away.  When we moved up to Washington we lived with my aunt, cousin, and granpa.  One night at the dinner table I was sitting next to Granpa and I asked him how old he was.  He replied with, "I walked around the walls of Jericho with Joshua and entered the promise land.  That's how old I am."  I was about ten or eleven so my first thought was "Awesome!  You knew Joshua from the Bible!" but I was smart enough not to say it allowed.  I don't remember what I said back but everyone at the dinner table jumped in on the joke that Granpa really did walk around the walls of Jericho.  So I really did believe them because I thought everyone was telling me the truth.  During clean up Granpa told me he was just joking and didn't really walk around the walls of Jericho.  I learned from then to always second guess the answer anyone on my mom's side of the family gives me unless I know without a doubt that they are being serious.

As time passed my parents moved into a house about forty minutes away from where Granpa lived so I wasn't able to spend as much time with him as I had when I was kid.  With the distance and time Granpa's health started taking a turn for the worse.  He was diagnosed with dementia and slowly he began to forget about the people he didn't have as much contact with.  His dementia progressed and Alzheimer's took whatever memories had left.  A few days ago Granpa suffered a bad stroke and is now paralyzed on the right side and he can no longer communicate with other's the way he used to.  I don't know whether the thought of loosing Granpa or the fact that he doesn't remember me hurts more.  I've watched Granpa at the hospital and I can't help but wonder if while he's dreaming memories that have been forgotten dance before his eyes.  Memories of his wife, of his children, of his grandchildren, and of his great-grandchildren.  I wonder if he dreams of all things he's forgotten and if he's happy.

Even if he never remembers I will always remember my grandpa, my hero, as the wise man that he always been.  I will forever remember him like this:

All the adventures we had while my grandparents camped out on beaches when they came to California to visit.  There was always a new beach and also a new trail to walk.  I saw my first my sunset with my grandparents on one the beaches they stayed at.

My Grandma and my Grandpa.  They were always together.