Grampa

To many people he was Ray,
but to me he was always
Grampa.
A stocky barrel-chested guy
with a smile
that instantly made you fall in love with him.
He was the type of person
that when you met him,
you immediately had a connection with him
and you always wanted to be around him
because you knew he was someone special
and there was no one like him in the world.

Grampa was an imp.
He had this childlike quality about him,
this twinkle in his eye,
and he loved to play games
and make people laugh;
right up to the end,
he made you laugh.
He always said life wasn't worth living if you couldn't laugh.
He had the best laugh in the world
and boy was it contagious,
it was one of his most indearing qualities.

The one thing that you didn't want to do besides make him mad
(which was very hard to do)
was to get your hair cut by him.
It never failed,
he would always snip the tops of your ears,
sometimes one or both,
but haircuts with him never ended without at least one ear hurting.
And you knew it was coming so you'd flinch every time
and he'd say
"What's a matter with you,
I haven't touched you yet.
Sit up and quit moving."
and
WHAM!
He'd get ya.
and he'd say
"Did I get ya? I'm sorry."
and laugh a little.
He really meant it
that he was sorry about hurting you,
but he could never help laughing a little.
He gave a great haircut
as long as you didn't mind pain and a little blood.
I was never so glad when I didn't get my hair cut by him again.

Grampa had a deep set of morals
and the most important of which
was respect for women.
Nothing made him madder
than if you sassed Granma or your mom.
He always felt
that women should be respected
and treated like ladies
and that stayed with me my whole life.

Grampa took no crap from anyone
but if he caught you smoking
you could always get away with it
cause he was sneaking out too
with the agreement that we both
wouldn't tell Granma.

Grampa taught his kids and grandkids a lot of things;
some he taught how to ride bikes or do cartwheels,
others he taught how to pitch or play bocci.
But he taught me a lot more than that,
everything that I am,
all my morals
and code that I live by
was taught to me by my grandfather.
He taught me how to swim,
but more importantly,
he taught me how to be a man.
I can only hope
to be one small part of the great man that he was
and I will miss him deeply.