Grandpa

Steve Smith - 2005

You were kind to me and gentle in a gruff manly way.
My Mum was sick in hospital so we came to stay with you and Grandma in your rambling magical house in a small town called Alstonville.
The little study was mine, full of books.
I loved sleeping there.
The big yard with a garden of phlox and iceland poppies, snapgragons and sweet peas.
The red volcanic soil, the rich green grass.

In the evenings on the big verandah, with the lights down, after dinner you read from the Bible in that deep warm voice of yours.
Myriad memories.
But most of all I wasn't afraid of you, like I was of my Dad.

The pain of leaving you Grandpa and Grandma was intolerable, so I shut it down.
One day soon I will be able to feel that pain in a primal, but I hope you know in heaven how much you meant to me.
The time I spent with you, I will carry with me forever.