Homesick
I have a heavy heart today, as sadly I received a call in the early hours of the morning from home. My grandfather, born December 20, 1937 passed today February 28, 2017 after living a long and full life. He married my grandmother Patricia (who passed in 2006) and had 4 children. He was blessed with many grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
To be honest, regrettably, I didn't get to know my grandfather that well. That aside, here are some things I do know. Marvin Lee Johnson loved Nascar and joked that we were related to Jimmy Johnson #48. He always wore a Harley- Davidson leather vest and for as long as I can remember had a long white fluffy beard. He had two birds, Bubba who was a canary I believe, and a parrot named Norman. He bit. Bubba, on the other hand was sweet and would sit on my grandpa's shoulder while he ate hoping to get a snack or two. My grandpa made a mean thanksgiving meal too. He liked to cook, or at least it seemed like it. He made an amazing chili too, yum. I can almost taste it just thinking about it. Grandpa was a little hard of hearing and being soft spoken it was hard sometimes to have a conversation with him, but I can recall one time I got him talking and he started pulling out his photo albums and showed me pictures of him as a handsome teen and pictures of my grandma when she was a girl with her horse. I looked just like my grandma as a little girl. He was in the military, and my mom was even born while he was stationed in Colorado Springs. He showed me pictures of when he went to the Indianapolis 500, which were in black and white and totally cool. He loved to watch kids movies and always had a new one for us to watch whenever we came over. He also would have a new dancing and signing figurine thing, you know like those funny Santa's that you squeeze their hand and the start singing and shaking their rump. He also had a ton of pictures of his family up on the wall that were always awesome to look at and ask about who the people were.
My grandfather was a friendly man. He was always cracking jokes and whenever I gave him a hug he would always hold on tight and give me a big old kiss on my cheek. He loved his family, and it's safe to say we all loved him very much and will miss him. I find peace to know that he is not suffering anymore, and that one day I'll see him again in heaven.
To be honest, regrettably, I didn't get to know my grandfather that well. That aside, here are some things I do know. Marvin Lee Johnson loved Nascar and joked that we were related to Jimmy Johnson #48. He always wore a Harley- Davidson leather vest and for as long as I can remember had a long white fluffy beard. He had two birds, Bubba who was a canary I believe, and a parrot named Norman. He bit. Bubba, on the other hand was sweet and would sit on my grandpa's shoulder while he ate hoping to get a snack or two. My grandpa made a mean thanksgiving meal too. He liked to cook, or at least it seemed like it. He made an amazing chili too, yum. I can almost taste it just thinking about it. Grandpa was a little hard of hearing and being soft spoken it was hard sometimes to have a conversation with him, but I can recall one time I got him talking and he started pulling out his photo albums and showed me pictures of him as a handsome teen and pictures of my grandma when she was a girl with her horse. I looked just like my grandma as a little girl. He was in the military, and my mom was even born while he was stationed in Colorado Springs. He showed me pictures of when he went to the Indianapolis 500, which were in black and white and totally cool. He loved to watch kids movies and always had a new one for us to watch whenever we came over. He also would have a new dancing and signing figurine thing, you know like those funny Santa's that you squeeze their hand and the start singing and shaking their rump. He also had a ton of pictures of his family up on the wall that were always awesome to look at and ask about who the people were.
My grandfather was a friendly man. He was always cracking jokes and whenever I gave him a hug he would always hold on tight and give me a big old kiss on my cheek. He loved his family, and it's safe to say we all loved him very much and will miss him. I find peace to know that he is not suffering anymore, and that one day I'll see him again in heaven.
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