A Time To Remember

Nine years ago tonight, I went to sleep with tears in my eyes. I have never been the same since. The innocent child in me had slowly faded away as a more experienced one came to be.

That night, my grandfather had passed away in his battle with cancer. He was 62 years old. I was 10 going on 11.

It was the first time in my life someone close to me had died. It wasn’t the last either. In a way, it was a lesson – life is short; make the most of every moment.

Nowadays, I don’t really remember a whole lot about my childhood. Mostly pictures and home videos would make up for it. But this much I remember ...

I always called my grandfather "Papa" and he always called me "Shorty." I was his oldest grandchild and the only one he had a nickname for. He had a ranch in his country home that was on Mooney Road. He had a dog named Junior. He had a few others, but that was his favorite. He raised chickens for a living, but he always had an undying love for the beach and for fishing. He lived life on the wild side too.

I remember his beard and his smile. He always tried to make jokes. He had a good sense of humor. I don't ever remember not seeing him smile. He would light up the room on most occassions.

I remember his tattoos. On the back of his right hand, he had a wolf wearing a hat. On his right shoulder, he had an anchor. There were some words nearby the tattoos, but the meanings I don't remember.

I remember his generosity. Every time I visited his house, I always left with something - a watch, a few toy green army soldiers, a fishing reel, his cowboy hat. These have become some of my most valuable treasures.

I remember the last time I saw him. My family went to visit him at his beach house. He was in terrible condition at the time; the cancer was really taking a toll on his body, but not his spirit. He didn't look much like the Papa I knew. I remember being scared at the time, I could barely look at him. Being ten, I didn't really understand what could happen, but I knew whatever it was, I didn't want it to happen.

I remember on that trip, we went fishing with Papa. I caught a fish or two and he caught some as well. We enjoyed fishing as we did a thousand times before. It was just another day at the pier - a good day. Yet that was the last time I ever went fishing.

I remember the last words I heard him spoke. I was in the car, for it was time to go home. He gave a fishing reel to my mom and told her, "Give this to Shorty."

I remember the night he died. It was about a week later. I was in bed sleeping. Mom had woke me up at 8:31pm and told me with tears in her eyes, "Papa died." I didn't say anything as she left the room. I just took a look at the fishing reel and his cowboy hat by my bed as tears silently fell.

Papa was 62 when he passed away. I sure wish he lived to be a lot older, that he was alive today. Yet to this day, I still remember him. I try to live out some of his good characteristics. And I will always continue to have a love for the beach, for fishing and for life. It's part of my Paradise.

I suppose that's his legacy.

That's Interesting...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Huh. Guess I better make good use of my name. *;-)

Down the Home Stretch

Got through an entire week of studying and thinking and praying and losing sleep and figuring things out and adding teeth marks to the end of my pens. More so than usual. Very grueling stuff, college.

And why did I subject myself to that?

One word - Midterms.

"Life or Death" Midterms.

Chemistry, Physics and Statistics; they're not subjects that I particularly like, but I have to take them and get them over with. On a whole, I think I did okay. Not sure about Math, I think I did the worst on that. But everything should work out okay. I got some more time to fix things if they need to be.

Either way, I'm in the home stretch now. Just got a few more appointments and lectures to get through before Spring Break can get here. Almost there.

Man, I'm tired.

Glorious Saturday

I love Saturdays. I just do. I love it better than Fridays, but not more than Sundays. After all, that's God's day.

Today, I slept in, trying to catch up on hours of sleep that I lost during the week. Then I went golfing for a while. I just chipped around a couple of balls on a patch of grass and that was very fun. Golf is my sport and I just love playing it. I met up with my family later for lunch and a movie. We saw 10,000 BC. That was one great movie. The plot was interesting and the historical elements to the story was authentic in my opinion. I can't wait to see it again on DVD. Plus, the previews were awesome! I saw Hancock, Iron Man, Speed Racer and The Dark Knight. All these movies seem to hold great promise from what I saw in the promos and I can't wait to see them when they come out.

Getting me around the highway today was my trusty car. I just love driving it. And today was no exception. Had my shades on, the music going and a smile on my face.

It was a good day.

But now, I have to end it with some homework. That's not really a good thing.

The upside - if I get something finished tonight, I can watch golf on TV in the afternoon tomorrow with a clear conscience.

Later!

Welcome to Paradise

I started up this blog to set up a place to put my thoughts, whether they be nice and formal or wild and out-of-the-left-field. It's just a simple place where you'll catch me thinking. Right now, I welcome you to my Paradise.

It's a good place to be.