You know how sometimes life can take you completely by surprise?
And that it can amaze with how magic, even Disney magic, can exist in your every day world.
That happened to me today. Even thinking about it now and writing about it now just...makes me want to cry all over again. They're a mixture of sad and happy tears.
Last week I was working in a different bank branch, and I ran into an old friend. Someone who had worked for my parents, and knew my Granddad. I know I've never really given you stories about Granddad. There are so many, it's hard to chose. He died when I was a senior in high school. I think it was probably one of, if not the worst moment of my entire life. I can still remember that day. I talked to him, and I saw him and he was fine.
And that night, he had a heart attack and then he was gone.
Just like that.
My Granddad was a smoker, and so I always assumed in my teenage brain that he would get cancer, and that it would be long and painful, and that there would be plenty of time to say goodbye. But there was none.
We had this game where every time we saw each other, we would hold up our fingers to indicate the number of days we had seen each other that week. Whoever did it first, won. But you had to have the right number of days. It was a really good week when you had to hold up all seven.
He took me to my painting classes and my piano lessons. He used to sit in the rocking chair in the living room and listen to me practice. He was awesome with all our dogs. I mean, this man would get down on the floor and play with them. He had hair that we used to call spring silver, but it was really tinged with the faintest touch of strawberry blond, reminiscent of when he was a beautiful auburn redhead.
My son has his hair. And sometimes, I even think he has part of his spirit.
It's hard for me to write.
It's hard for me to try to explain to you how much Granddad meant to me. He wasn't just Granddad, he was another father. How many girls are so lucky to have two daddies? But I was.
And yes, we went to Disney together. Some of my funniest memories are with my Granddad. He had this laugh. It's so hard to put into words, but when he laughed, he used to suck in air, and it would be this great "huh, huh, huh" sound until he could barely breathe. It was one of those laughs that made you laugh, and it made you feel like if you could laugh like that, then you didn't have a care in the world. In that moment, you felt like nothing mattered. I used to laugh like Granddad, but it's been a long time. It really takes a lot to get me to the point where I have his laugh, but I do.
It would be so bad, he'd have to leave the table if we were dining out. This happened so often, and I know it happened at Disney. He'd leave to compose himself, and when he thought he could come back, he would see us all in the window, and start all over again, which started us all over again, and he'd have to leave again. It was so funny. His spirit, his laughter, it was infectious.
I wish he could have known my husband, and my son. I know they would have loved his laugh, and his sense of humor.
I remember one time we were waiting for the boat from MGM. I don't remember where we were going, but the rain was pouring, driving in almost horizontal sheets just straight to where we were standing and those little overhead awnings weren't doing a darn bit of good. We were ponchoed up but it didn't matter, and Granddad shielded my body with his, but we were still soaked and we laughed and laughed and laughed.
So last week, when I saw our old friend it brought back so many memories.
Little did I know it would bring me an unexpected kindness.
Today, I was at work, and our friend walked in. I had a customer, and she waited for me to be done. I thought, my goodness, what could this be?
She said she had something for me. I had told her I was expecting so I thought perhaps it was a baby gift.
I was wrong, but in the best possible way.
It was a musical Mickey Mouse figurine, the kind that's all ceramic and has a plastic base that you turn.
My Granddad gave it to her as a thank you for watching our dogs the last time we went to Disney together.
And she gave it to me.
Well, I just started crying right then and there. I mean, normally, I'm not so emotional, but me being pregnant is a whole other story. I was so touched, so honored, and so thrilled to have something that my Granddad had touched, that he had chosen, even if it was for someone else. Somehow, that little figurine had made its way back to me through the unexpected kindness of an old friend.
And do you know what Mickey is doing?
He's playing the piano. Just like I used to play for Granddad.
Next Chapter
No TK cliffhanger?
Pregnancy really is a license to eat.
