When I was very young, I used to visit my grandparents house in Oregon. They would take me fishing, I would play in the forest across the street, and we would go down to the beach. My Grandfather loved to fish. He had his own boat, (named after my sister) and would go out on the ocean and salmon fish. Sometimes he would take me out with him. He loved to spend time with me but I know he must have hated taking me out on that boat. You see, it was a very small boat, with no Restroom. If you had to “go” then he had a small milk jug that you went in and then committed your “donation” to the sea. Well see, at 12 years of age, I wasn’t too fond of peeing in front of other people, much less into a jug. So I would hold it. The problem with holding it is that, at 12 years old, I didn’t have a very large bladder, and the boat trips were often very very long. So I would end up in pain, and he would inevitably end up turning around and taking us in. When he did this I would often hit the bathroom and be fine.
Being a young boy I also loved to dig around and find rocks. Looking back, I am not even sure why, I just did. I would always bring tons of rocks back to my grandparents’ house and leave them in various places. One time, My Grandfather told me that I had better not leave any of those rocks in his workshop area. Well, for those that know me you would know that I am a smart ass, and that telling me something like that is more then likely going to Elicit a response. The night before I was supposed to leave to go back to my parents house I specifically left a Rock sitting in the middle of his workbench. To me, this was very funny. To him, it became even funnier when he wrote “I’m Back” on it and wrapped it up as a Christmas present. In return, he got a rather heavy birthday present. So began the great Rock Tradition. For well over 15 years, this rock had traded hands between my grandfather and I on birthdays, Christmas, fathers day, etc. I even sought my chance to deliver it back to him this last Christmas and took it with me. I gave it to him on Christmas Eve as his present. In return, he snuck it into my luggage on the 29th of Dec.
Tonight at around 11ish PM my time, my grandfather passed away. He had suffered through many ailments and this was his time to go. I am happy that I had the chance to see him in a decent state before it happened. I am glad we were able to exchange the rock one last time. He will be missed, but I know that he is not suffering any more, and he is in a better place. Now, I just need to figure out how to send the rock there.
Rest in Peace Papa.
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