With a grandpa as strong as mine you never really expected he would pass away so suddenly. As a man of hardship, he always saw everything through. Having to drop out in 8th grade just to eat dinner. His house burnt down when he went on his first vacation. He moved down the street and built a new one. Dying to medicine failure, it just didn’t sit right with me.

               The event was shocking and devastating. Although I wasn’t that close with him, I still held him dear to me. He was in his early 70’s when he passed away. He had gone through a lot in his life. He was tall with black hair, cleanly shaved on the sides, with relatively long hair on top. His haircut was the same as my fathers and my father’s younger brother

            My grandpa taught my dad almost everything he knows about electrical. My grandpa ended up working for my dad, for a couple of years, till he couldn’t work anymore. My grandpa’s name was George  and his wife’s name was Anne. They were married for about 50 years, when he passed. My grandma always took care of him before he passed.

            She would do everything for him, even if he could do it for himself. She dedicated her life to his, and it was paying off he was becoming better. He was getting his movement back; His right hand and leg started to not swell as much. He soon began to be able to walk and close his right hand.

            Throughout that, there still wasn’t a lot of money on the table so my grandmother started skinning leftover copper wire scraps she got from my dad. She would keep it in bundles in 5-gallon buckets, then sell it when the price for copper went up. She has done it to this day, and I have helped her do it. She used the money for him and cooked almost every day for him.

            My grandfather was well respected by almost everyone, he was kindhearted, but had sort of a tough look to him. Like I said I didn’t really know him well, but I know that he was kindhearted and was able to fix everything. Even if he didn’t know what it was, he would find a way to fix it, it was like he was a wizard. I remember certain things about him, like his nose, he had a big stubby nose almost, that had many pores on it. He had brown eyes, with a dark natural tan, and always wore a brown t-shirt and long pants, at least that’s what I remember him wearing.

            I remember the day like it was yesterday in some areas. I had woken up early on Friday and showered and then dried my hair sort of. Then I got dressed for the day and sat on the couch dossing off while watching the news. The news had the weather report on it showing the storms and rain everywhere. I remember getting up and grabbing my poncho and stuffing it in my bag.

            I then got up and put on my black and pink shoes I had gotten recently. I put them on with a smile and hair still wet. I had to go with my brother to school that day, because my mom had a meeting for work, and my dad had to leave early for work. I got in my brother’s truck, the smell was cologne and it was strong. I looked into the backseat and saw it was very dirty and threw my purple and pink Vera Bradley rolling backpack back there.

I put the keys in the ignition from the passenger’s seat and started the car and turned the radio on. I turned it to station 9.55 and listened to it while I waited for my brother to come out of the house. He finally came out of the house and clicked his auto start button on his key fob not noticing that his truck was already on. Since he did that the truck shut off then turned back on and the music turned back on. I buckled up and watched him as he put his hand through his hair and flicked his head.

He got in buckled up and shifted his body looked behind us and backed up into the neighbor’s yard.

“Daniel that’s the neighbor’s yard they're going to get mad,” I said in a shocked voice, shaking my head.

“Shut up they won’t care its one time, chill,” he said in an annoyed but chill voice.

I hushed up, as he sped out of the yard onto the road. I was listening to the music as he clicked the button to a different station.

“Hey, I was listening to that,” I said offended he had switched it.

“My truck, my radio,” he said snarking.

“I’ll get you back for this one day, just you wait,” I said confidently.

“Oh yea?” He said knowing I was lying.

“Oh, yea I will,” I said as I looked out the window.

He pulled into the back parking lot of the school and parked, I got out, and tried to grab my bag. I couldn’t reach it through all his rubble, so I asked him to grab it for me, he didn’t. I had to climb into the truck again and move everything and then finally got it out. I went to my classroom and left the bag near the door and ran to the playground. While I did this my brother just went to the high school walking with his friends; Sergay, and Mathew.

I went and played jackpot with Drewski, Leo, Mark, and William, and other people I don’t know. When I was told class was starting, I walked with them to class. The day was a boring day, but still draining. I remember there was another fight between Olivia and Cally and it was normal. The two always fought with each other over something stupid, they were best friends one day, then enemies the next.

I don’t remember what they were fighting about that time, but I just know it was something stupid. Recess was the same, as usual I played football with the boys and got a touchdown or two. I remember the boys were fighting over a play made with Mark and Leo, they were saying Mark was down before he got the touchdown. I even joined in too because Mark wasn’t down where they said. We ended up winning that game and were bragging on it too, only making the other team mad.

I remember going to extended day waiting for my brother to get out of his classes. When he got me finally the lady didn’t know him since she was new. She was trying to not let me go with him and it was getting on me and my brother’s nerves. She finally let me go and we went, and I threw my backpack into the bed of the truck this time. I then got in the truck, and we left for home.

When we got home, I grabbed my bag from the bed of the truck and went inside, he went to the gym and left without going inside. I went inside and rolled my backpack into the house. I sat on the couch and sighed. I looked at my mom who was sitting on the other couch staring at the floor. She had a face that didn’t seem good at all, which worried me.

She looked at the ground with that same look, and spoke, “I have something to tell you” she said in a different voice. I didn’t answer I just listened to her. “Grandpa Nordgren passed away, he’s in a better place now” that’s all she said. I stared at her with a lump in my throat and trying to think clearly. I didn’t cry, I never really cry in front of anyone or myself. I just sat there with a lump in my throat, knowing that if I spoke one word, I would end up crying.

Finally, I knew I had enough strength for a word or two, so I spoke, “when, why?”. My mother didn’t answer, I found out later he died on his way to the hospital that day. I didn’t hurt for me, I felt hurt for my Dad, and my grandma, because I knew it would affect them the most. I remember going to his funeral, the old peaceful building, and all the faces I didn’t recognize. I had a front row spot next to my sister and brother, I remember hearing the speeches about him.

I remember going up to see him, he was in a white dress shirt with a brown vest, and red bow tie. I went up there with my mom, and I touched his right hand that was still puffy, and I just took a moment of silence. We then took him to his final resting place, the casket on top of the hole, while flowers were placed on it and prayers were said. We were heading back to my sister’s car because she rode with her boyfriend. I saw a plus heart from what seemed like one from a “build a bear” bear. I took it in my hand and told my dad I wanted to go back for a minute.

He let me and came with me, I said some things to him gripping the heart tight in my hand. I kissed the heart and threw it on the casket that was already lowered a bit into the whole. My dad took my hand and we walked back to the car. We went home and I still hadn’t cried, but I was going to soon. That night in my room I was trying to sleep but couldn’t. I started thinking since that’s what I do when I can’t sleep.

I thought of him, and I started to miss him a lot. I finally cried and questioned him from my bed, I eventually fell asleep and it was some of the best sleep I’ve ever had. I think it was him that night, the one who let me sleep so well.