Great Grandpa.

Great Grandpa died 12 years ago today. I was only 13 but I remember that night so clearly.

I remember him clearly. The things I remember about him are his motorcycle. The smell of his "shed". The smell of the inside of his station wagon (with a compass on the dash board). The taste of peach blossoms (I have a can in my cupboard right now!). The towel on the back of his chair. I remember watching Carol Burnette reruns with him and Gallagher. While he sat in his towel draped chair spitting tobacco in a can laughing. Times were good back then. Easier than they are now. My great grandparents used to live across from the chicken coop on Rt. 3 in Belfast. They had huge pine trees over their driveway and I remember as a kid, the driveway was always covered in brown pine needles. I could run and slide across the driveway on them there were so many. Their yard was always covered in stray chickens and I used to chase them around the driveway sliding and gobbling like a turkey.

I miss him. I miss the smell of the station wagon. I miss chasing chickens and eating peach blossoms with him. But, I am blessed to have known him and to carry a piece of him in my heart. The part of him that lives in me is the part of me that says "hey, let's go to Boston this weekend" on Friday night. I can feel him when I hear a motorcycle racing down the road and my heart starts racing with the beat of the Harley motor. When I find myself laughing out loud at Gallagher smashing a watermelon on the front row- for no apparent reason. When I find myself trying to sing songs from Hee Haw in between sticky mouthfuls of peach blossoms- I feel Grandpa near.

Plus, whenever I see a dragonfly, I know he's with us still.

<3