30 years ....... seems like a long time, doesn't it? You're right, but yet, it seems like just seconds ago too.
I still remember the phone call. My Grandma's voice asking for my dad. When he took the phone, I knew what he was going to say before he hung up talking to his mom. I had already run into the den and thrown myself on the couch sobbing. I didn't need to hear his words "the old Man's gone" to know that my Grandpa, the Man that for 14 years had been my biggest supporter and my life-sized teddy bear, was dead of a heart attack.
It hadn't been more than a few weeks since he'd been at our house fixing our dishwasher, but now he was gone. His name was Howard, but everyone called him Lawrence, except my Grandma when she was teasing him, then he was Sam. That was an old joke between them that I never heard until long after Grandpa was gone.
Grandpa worked hard to take care of my Grandma and my Dad. He was a train engineer for Norfolk and Western when he retired early because of his health. He built one of the houses that they lived in when my Dad was growing up. Grandpa loved to work with his hands and was happiest when he was being useful to anyone who needed help.
He loved his family and we all knew it. My brother and I were the only grandchildren, tho Grandma and Grandpa would have loved to have more. They seemed to adopt all the kids in their neighborhood as theirs. Grandpa didn't read a lot, but I found out after he died, that the little boy who lived next door would come over quite often and want "Grandpa" to read him a story. My Grandpa always obliged. They sat cuddled together in the big chair or on the couch and Grandpa would read the book over and over to him.
To me, my Grandpa was a hero. I know, most little girls think that their Grandpas are heroes, but even in death, this man was. We'll never know why, but he was on his way to the courthouse when he died. The courthouse for the County we live in isn't far from a park where there are always lots of children playing. Grandpa must have felt something was very wrong. The police when they came to see my Grandma, told her that Grandpa had actually pulled over and parked his car, shutting off the engine, before he slumped over the wheel and died. His car was parked at the park. He could have kept going. The police station was just a few blocks away and they could have helped him, but he didn't. He must not have wanted to risk hurting anyone else, even if he couldn't get help.
I'm very proud to tell people that I'm his granddaughter and I still love teddy bears.
