Remembering My Grandfather

Today, May 1, is the 2nd year anniversary of my grandfather's death. It's been a tough couple years for me and my family, but we all have gotten through it together. So now, we start another year without him here with us physically. But he is always going to be with us spiritually. I went to mass last Sunday and was praying and talking with my grandpa after receiving communion, then all of a sudden I smelled a whiff of his Old Spice smell. It hit me quick but I knew he was there with me. Anyway, I wanted to leave you all with something that I wrote for my grandfather for his memorial service two years ago.

R.I.P. Lolo (July 2, 1916–May 1, 2007)

Simple / Stubborn / Old-fashioned / Old-school / Giving / Gentle / Thoughtful / Full of thought / A worrier and a warrior / A man's man / A gentleman / He taught me to be the man that I want to be / And the man that I didn't want to be / We all have both sides / The good and the bad / But no matter what any of us thought / He always wanted the good / The good inside all of us to shine through

Betrayed by his body / His mind like a steel trap / But for his nine decades / He was taken too soon / For his nine decades / He had nine lives / From the battles of Bataan / To the battles of broken hearts / To the battles with his hard-headed children / He went through it all / Let us hope / Let us pray / That we / Get to live a full life as he

He was personable / He was charming / Before getting to the point / He would tell you his life story / or at least the story of his life at the moment / Oh the stories / The stories he could tell / Were simple / Yet that was his life / He was content with his big ben clock / His flashlight / His gold casio watch at his side / He made sure everything was in order / How he wanted things / How they were supposed to be / So let us live our life like he

Let us go forth / and go home / Lolo's gonna get worried because it's starting to get dark out there

Love you Lolo,

Albert