Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

We need to let go for a while and remember the beauty that was the life of my Grandma and Grandpa.  They instilled better family values in us than what we are showing.  Now is the time to make them proud. There is nothing in the physical sense that can heal the pain of our loss, only time can do that. Time will take it’s course, and in the end I know the families will come together as one and we will push on.

Silverstein – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Thirty hour drive from home.
You’d think I’d feel so alone, that couldn’t be less true.
Family travelling by my side.
Lifeline friends we can’t deny.
See the world with you.

Here today, gone tomorrow.
We’re saying our goodbyes.
Drive away from the past.
Don’t be sad, don’t feel sorrow.
The memories in our hearts, I won’t forget.

An icy road with no remorse.
A metal box drifting off course is taking everything.
I can’t believe we lost you,
I can’t feel any worse now.
This must be a dream.
When will someone wake me?

Here today, gone tomorrow.
We’re saying our goodbyes.
Drive away from the past.
Don’t be sad, don’t feel sorrow.
The memories in our hearts, I won’t forget,
I wont forget. (It’s in our hearts, it’s in our hearts.)
I wont forget!

All my life, I’ve never felt so strong as when we’re all together.
All my days, I’ve never felt so powerless when you were taken away.
There’s no one in this world with so much love and so much passion.
We’ll say goodbye, but we won’t forget the liberty and fortitude.

Here today, gone tomorrow.
We’re saying our goodbyes.
Drive away from the past.
Here today, gone tomorrow.
We’re saying our goodbyes.
Drive away from the past.
Don’t be sad, don’t feel sorrow.
The memories in our hearts, I won’t forget.

[x4]
I won’t forget.
(It’s in our hearts, it’s in our hearts)

My Grandpa: He Loved Us

Around 10:30a this morning I received a call from Chris saying that my Grandpa Bob had passed away 15 minutes ago. Gramps was ill and we all knew he would be passing, but even knowing that did not ease the pain of what I felt as soon as I hung up the phone. After I hung up I went and sat back down to continue working (I was at the office). I thought I had it under control, I just felt numb. Sad and numb, but no tears. Then the floodgates open, and it continued to pour for about 10-15 minutes.

I have always been thankful for my grandparents, and as recently as 8 years ago, I had two grandma’s, two grandpa’s, and one great grandma all living. Well, my great grandma passed away in 1999, grandma Rosita passed away in 2003, grandma Rose left us in 2006, and now my Grandpa Bob has passed away in 2007. It’s as if I am watching my family disappear right before my eyes. It’s a feeling of numbness, sadness, and confusion. If you’ve dealt with this then you know exactly what I’m feeling.

My Grandpa Bob was a stern, yet giving man. He loved his family, he loved to laugh, and he was a very proud man. I loved it when it’d be late at night and we’d just be talking in the living room and he would tell some good stories about things that had happened to him during his life. He was also always good for a joke or two. The last joke he told me was about 6 months ago, and it was when we were sitting around in the front room. I’ll never forget the feeling of hanging out with Gramps, nor will I ever forget how much he loved us. I am thankful that he did pass without pain, and he was able to fulfill his wish of dying in the same bed that my Grandma did just one year ago. I know they are embracing in Heaven right now.

So this closes a chapter on a very important part of my life. My Grandma Rose and my Grandpa Bob are gone. It’s crazy that just 2-3 years ago things were good. Sure they weren’t in the best of health, but they surely weren’t going to be dying anytime soon. It’s amazing how fast things can change. If you ever needed a wake up call to call your grandparents or to tell your parents that you love them, please let this serve as that call. One of the first things you do when somebody close to you passes away is you start to regret times you could have spent with them, but didn’t. You start to think about all they did for you, and then you start to slowly realize that they really aren’t here anymore. So where am I in this process? Well, let’s just say that I still can’t imagine driving up the 101 to Arroyo Grande and not having either one of my grandparents up there waiting to see me. God, I love them.

Well, it’s about 1:30am right now and I have to be at work in 6 1/2 hours. I will say my prayer for my gramps before I fall asleep, and then I will have the faith and sense of well being that he is in Heaven with my Grandma. I truly believe that. Tomorrow night (or, I guess it’s tonight now) we will be heading up to Arroyo Grande to get together with our family and do what my Grandpa would love us to do: tell some good stories about the great life that he lived.

Grandpa, I love you.