Sunday, July 13, 2008

Jack J Price, Sr - April 28, 1932 – July 15, 2003

*Originally posted 7/15/04


His empty chair...
Nothing has ever looked quite as empty
As that chair
Sitting there in the morning light
With his impression still outlined in his blanket
Tossed across the back
Like it was waiting for him to return from the other room
and pick up from where he left off


I stand in front of it
Like I am waiting for him to appear
As if I am somehow seeing through him
but he is really there


This empty shrine
To how things used to be
And will never be again
shows that everything changes in an instant
but nothing ever moves


I sit down in his chair
And I am immediately surrounded by the smell of his aftershave
And body chemistry
That has become a part of the chair
The thing that gives it life
And hangs on to who he was


I remember all of the times I climbed in his lap in this very chair
when I was small and young
and he was here
How it always seemed safe there with him
How he was stronger than anyone

No one would dare to try and hurt you when you were with him


And how years later
I saw the same dance performed for me
with my own daughter taking my place


He was a man who knew who he was
Lived his life the way he wanted to
And didn't take any grief from anyone


He was a man who would speak his mind
And stand up for the people he loved without hesitation
He was as fierce as he was forgiving
Stubborn as he was gentle
Flawed but fearless when it came to facing the world

He may not have been perfect
But he was ours and we were of him

He was the right cocktail of love, respect, grit and fear....
And when I watched the light leave his face
Saw him take his final breath
I knew the world was never going to be the same.

He was my grandfather and I love him.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry honey.....

 

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