A True Character

Everyone has that person (or people!) in their lives who just seems larger than life, a true character, who provides you with stories and tales that just seem too crazy to be true. In my life that role was largely played by my grandfather, Grandpa Tom. He was a very interesting person, very unusual, very over-the-top. Even though he wasn't a big part of my life for the last 10 years or so, the memories I have of him while we were growing up more than make up for his recent absence. We loved hanging out at the club when we were little and playing Space Invaders on the arcade machine in the basement. We used to go swimming at his house all the time in the summer, thinking his pool was really neat because it had a little fountain attached to a hose. He had a jar of M&Ms in the dining room and while regular chocolate covered Entenmann's donuts remind me of my father, the ones with little crumbs on top remind me of him. I also remember how pissed off he got when all three of his grandchildren decided to call him "Tom," rather than "Grandpa Tom."

My Grandpa Tom passed away last Saturday. I'm sorry that he wasn't able to meet his great-grandson before he died, but he did know that he was born and he sent flowers to mark the occasion. Although we've only gotten together a handful of times in recent history, the memories I have of his role in my childhood have always been with me.