My sister wrote a great post for my grandfather recently, and you can find the whole story here. I don't think I'd be able to say anything as well as she did so I'll leave it at that. On Thursday my mum and I flew to Montreal to meet my sis and Jordan and the following day we drove down to Vermont. As much as I don't really care for road trips, the drive down to Vermont is incredibly beautiful. I was reminded the whole way that a lot of it is thanks to my Grampy who made a bill or law or something making it illegal to have billboards in the entire state of Vermont, so the lush green countryside always looks extra lush and green.
I learned a lot about him this trip, and I wasn't aware he had such an environmental focus. He helped create the first ever "green-up day", which is a day where everyone picks up garbage and litter and leaves it in these green bags that get collected. It happened that his funeral was on this year's green-up day, and my aunt, uncles and father had all participated in the first one many years ago.
I heard lots of stories that I had heard before, and when they were told, both around the kitchen table and at the funeral, I could hear them in my grandpas voice, who loved entertaining us with his tales from when he was younger. I also got to read a letter he had written to my grandmother shortly after their first date. He was working as a journalist at the time and he typed out a letter describing his weekend (washing his car, telling her that he had a whole heap of fun and that she was real swell. It was one of the sweetest things I had ever read.
One thing I think we all knew about my grandfather was that he loved my grandfather with all his heart. He always wanted to make her happy, and it was clear that he just loved her to bits. It's an inspiring thought to know that someone can love another person so much for so long.
Another nice thing about the weekend was getting to see my eastern family again, now the fourth year in a row. I didn't figure I would get to see them again before the little bambino is born. One of my uncles is a little grandbaby crazy I think, so he was very happy to know a little one is on the way, even if it isn't his own grandchild. My cousins were all excited and it felt nice to know they are all there supporting us! We took a family picture and I could just hear myself telling a little kid "that was before you were even born!" Kind of a neat thought.
All in all, the unexpected trip to Vermont, even though it was to say goodbye to my Grampy, was very nice. I could spend all day just sitting on my Aunt and Uncle's porch reading, listening to the wind chimes surrounded by green. I'm glad to have gotten the chance to be there.
