I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL16)
hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life".
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
On this day 81 years ago, my dad was born. Growing up, I always thought it was kind of fun that my parents' birthdays fell exactly a week apart (with a 4 year age difference). Since they're both gone, funny isn't exactly the adjective I'd use anymore.
The last birthday my dad celebrated on earth was his 71st. My oldest son was 16 months old. We weren't even pregnant with my middle son yet. A month before his 72nd birthday, we brought my middle son home from the hospital & my dad was gone. He knew my son had arrived, and I told him what he looked like, but he never even got to see his picture, no less hold him. They both missed out on that.
I often think about what my children's relationship with their Grandpa George would be like if he were still alive today. And it both warms my heart and breaks my heart that all 3 kids often say things like, "I wish Grandpa George was still alive." and even "I miss Grandpa George." I am thankful that they keep him in their thoughts and want to keep his "memory" alive; yet I am saddened because they don't even have that "memory" of him...only what we share with them and the few pictures of him with my oldest.
I will work to keep that "memory" alive for them, because I didn't even have that of my grandfather and I always kind of missed it.
But today, even more than most days, I wish he were still here. To see them, to know them, and to let them give him a big hug and wish him a Happy Birthday.
This is so heartfelt and bittersweet. My children only got to meet two of their four grandparents, and my dad died two years after they came home. It's hard to keep the memory alive of the ones they never met. Then again, my mom did a good job of that with her father, who died when I was three. I feel like I "knew" him better than my dad's parents, who lived until I was about ten.
ReplyDeleteMy kids never really had a relationship with my dad, yet my husband's parents lived right next door. Those relationships with grandparents are so important, even if they are through pictures and stories. That is why it is so important for us to write.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so hard to have kids and not have them know your parents. Our parents are just so special to us - I can only imagine. This slice really brought all of your emotions out and on the "paper". So heartfelt.
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