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I will miss you always, Pop

The above handsome fellow is my grandfather, affectionately know to all his grandchildren as Pop. He was 85 years old and, sadly, passed away tonight. This photo was taken just 3 weeks ago. I will miss him immensely.

A little about this wonderful man. He spent a lot of his youth in Brooklyn, NY and self-admittedly liked causing a little mischief at Coney Island with his friends. He told me that one time he ordered 100 pounds of french fries from Nathan's, only to be told to go away by the order-clerk. He thought that was so funny, and the way he told it made me think so too. Interestingly, in the recent past Nathan's aired a commercial showing a clip of the old Nathan's stand on Coney Island and amazingly that clip showed pop standing next to it.

He went on to marry my grandmother (Nanny) and just 3 weeks ago they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Think about that. He spent two years away from Nanny on Guadalcanal in the South Pacific serving his country. We loved to hear Pop tell stories about his time in the Army. Those stories will be with me forever.

More than anything, though, the most important thing to Pop was his family. We all knew how proud he was of us. He had four children, ten grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren if I've counted correctly. During Christmas time, up until the later years, Pop would be the one to hand out the presents one-at-a-time to everyone. Pop's rule was that you had to wait until the person opened their present before moving on to the next one. He loved watching everyone enjoy their new-found loot.

Another memory that has made a lasting impression was our trips to the candy store during all family holidays. After a big dinner he'd gather up all of the grandkids and announce that we were going to "ease-on-down the road". We all knew it meant candy, and as a kid that's all we focussed on. Of course, I now realize that it was his way of spending some quality time alone with us as we walked to the store.

A couple of years ago when he was in his late 70's he called me, knowing I'm a computer guy, and asked me to build him a computer. And so I did. I was amazed as he got online and started using the Internet. The first time I got an instant message from him absolutely floored and delighted me. He continued to use his computer (having moved on to more and more powerful systems) up until he fell ill this past week. I loved his willingness to learn new things. I hope I'm that way years from now.

I am so happy that he held my baby boy shortly after he was born last year. After holding him he confessed that it was the first time in over 20 years he had held a baby. He had always been afraid of dropping them before. I'm so glad I convinced him to do that. He loved it.

I got to see him in the hospital this past weekend and it was so utterly painful to see him in his condition. I'm glad I did, though, because he recognized me and understood everything I said to him. I got a chance to tell him one last time how much I loved him and for that I am so grateful.

So, my dear Pop, I will miss you. I hope I can lead the kind of life you did and that I learned all of the life-lessons you passed on to me. I love you always.

Your grandson,

Johnny

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posted by John Walker @ 3/28/2007 1:08:00 AM

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I will miss you always, Pop

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