I was about 15 when my grandfather passed away. It was a real loss when
he went as he hadn't been ill or at least not that we knew of. He was
an incredible man with class, integrity and a real knack for making
people feel appreciated. My grandma had passed just a year prior of
cancer and the two of them were extremely close. It was the kind of
marriage you see that just makes you see what love truly is.
Prior to my grandfathers passing I was fortunate to spend some time
with him as a congratulations trip for passing 8th grade. It was
something that my grandparents had done with all the grandkids and I was
the youngest and last to get the pleasure. Since my grandmother had
passed the year of the coveted 8th grade graduation, my trip was
postponed. I was told by my parents that it may never happen because it
would be to hard on grandpa. But as I said, my grandpa was a man of
great class and he wasn't about to let me be disappointed. I flew out
and spent a week with this incredible man. He taught me to waltz, we had
long talks and listened to old Broadway records. He asked me questions
about myself and we laughed for hours. At the end of this trip, as I
was getting on the plane, my grandfather said to me, "This is the last
time I will see you kiddo." I said, "No it's not grandpa I'll be back."
He then said, "You will but I will be gone. "He knew then that he was
not long for this world.
Within the next 3 months he passed away, after a game of tennis with
his friends at the club. He leisurely strolled back to his table to sip
his Manhattan and share some laughs when he sighed out loud about the
loss on the court that day he folded his arms and was gone.
The family all joined for his services and it seemed like the entire
town came out to pay their respects. Everyone that knew him had kind and
wonderful words to share. Lots of laughter about his life and his life
with Grandma, saying that we all knew they were together. At the viewing
I had asked my father if I could have Grandpa's glasses. Everyone
thought that was a little weird, but I wanted them .It was such a
personal thing for him everyday to HAVE to wear them and they were
always with him. I wanted him to always be with me.
That night after the funeral my father, step mom, sister, cousins,
aunt and uncle all stayed at my grandparents home. Everyone going to
different rooms except myself and my older sister, we shared a spare
room with a pull out sofa bed. As we lie there talking about Grandpa and
how we missed him we decided to turn off the light and call it a night.
Just as I shut off the light and laid back down the door just cracked
open enough to let the hallway night light come in, we heard a soft
calming "goodnight girls" and we responded with "goodnight" and the door
closed. Immediately my sister and I said "THAT WAS GRANDPA..." not
scared but excited. We decided we better ask our family the next day to
see if any of them were up and did that. Not surprisingly at all, NO ONE
was up, nor did they open our door that night.
My sister and I know without a shadow of a doubt that Grandpa said
goodnight that night in his sweet way of telling us he was OK and we can
be too.
yourghoststories
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