I want to say first, I’m sorry I’ve been absent from my blog the past week or so. My grandfather passed away in the late night hours of May 28th. It came as a shock and at first, my mind couldn’t comprehend, and it still doesn’t seem real that he’s gone. It’s been really hectic the past few days and to add more stress to the situation, I started a new job on May 28th. That will bring back a sad memory every year when I celebrate my work anniversary, I’ll recall my grandfather’s death.
My grandpa, “Poppy”, is what his grandchildren and great-grandchildren referred to him as, was a hard-working man. Growing up in a troubled home and kicked out at an early age, he became a sawmill worker. As time progressed, he’d eventually save up enough, after supporting his wife and five children, to own a sawmill himself and employee workers. That was his passion and often talked about it very much until about a year in a half ago when Alzheimer’s and Dementia took his mind. He got to where he didn’t know any of his family and his personality changed back to his childhood days. He loved candy and cakes more than anyone I know and made sure you had at least ten pieces of candy and two cakes before you left his house.
If you’re not familiar with the Alzheimer’s and Dementia disease, it’s terrible, to say the least. It takes your mind and eventually you forget to do the basics of life. You also enter the stage of anger and aggressiveness. He was slowly entering that stage two weeks before his passing.
It was sad every time I went to visit him because it was like talking to a stranger that never knew you. He couldn’t even begin to tell you my name and would ask, “Who is that boy?” All our family has to go by now is the memories of the “good ol’ time”, and we have a lot of those.
I’m transitioning back into my writing and would appreciate your thoughts and prayers for the coming weeks and months as they’re gonna be an emotional ride, but we’ll get through it one day at a time. I’ll be back on the blog next week and still plugging away at the keyboard working on my new Christmas novel.
Poppy, I love you and miss you every single day, but I know your mind is crystal clear now and you’re not suffering from back and leg pain anymore. So, go rest high on that mountain. Son your work on earth is done…
Justin D. Lambe 