dollhouse

The movers put the dollhouse in the van.
I yell out, "Be careful with that!"
My grandfather built that dollhouse for me.
He built it and grandmother furnished it.
I remember what it was like
when grandfather was still alive.

Grandfather started to build the dollhouse for me when I was born.
He thought that a proper girl should not be without one.
It's Victorian styled, just like the house where my grandparents lived.
But grandfather never finished the dollhouse.
He passed away before the final touches were to be made.
He would just lie in bed those last two weeks.
I didn't even realize he was ill.
"Your grandfather is just tired."
I would run into his bedroom and jump on the bed to wake him up.
Even though he was sick, I never really noticed.
He would say, "Good afternoon, Spook." and smile.
You see, Spook was my nickname. No body uses it anymore.

After grandfather passed away, grandmother hired someone to finish the dollhouse.
I didn't even cry at the funeral. He wasn't really gone in my mind.
The man in the coffin was a wax dummy.

"Be careful with that!" I yell at the movers.
They don't realize how special that dollhouse is to me.
Since my grandfather died when I was so young, that is all I have from him.
That dollhouse contains my memories of my grandfather.
It was his gift to me.
It will be my gift to my own daughter someday.
"Be careful with that..."