I imagine there are many things about my grandpa I have forgotten once he passed and my life continued on its way…but the memory of his smile, I know, will never fade away.
His smile wasn’t something you could miss…it was out there for everyone to see…I noticed it when he was looking at Grandma…and sometimes when he looked at me.
One day, when I was still young enough to sit upon his knee, I asked him, “Grandpa, what is it that makes you smile when you look at Grandma…and sometimes when you look at me?”
And there it was…Grandpa’s smile…as he hugged me tenderly…”Because,” he said, “when I look at Grandma and when I look at you…I’m smiling at all the other things I see.”
“When I look at your grandma I see the day I fell in love…or our first kiss…and I think… how lucky can I be that she said yes when I asked her to share her life with me.”
“I see moments we have spent together…I see her compassion…I see the beauty of her heart……I see the gentleness of her soul…to me she’s a work of art.”
“You see every time my eyes fall on your grandma they linger there a while…and, as a treasure trove of memories open before my eyes…I cannot help but smile.”
“And when I see you…I see the first time I held you in my arms…how I thought I’ll never let you fall…and I remember wondering how I could be filled with so much love…for someone so very small.”
“When I look at you…or your grandma…I see more than you and Grandma…I see memories…I see moments…and I rejoice…You ask me why I smile every time I see you…it’s simple…I really have no choice.”
I hope they’ll come a day when my grandchildren ask me the same question I asked my Grandpa…I imagine I’ll close my eyes and rejoice in his memories for a while…and when I open them I’ll happily tell them the reason…so many Grandpas smile.
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