03/20/2022
You may have seen this picture circling around within our inner circle and you may have not. No biggie! We lost this amazing wise man yesterday. His name was Al. He was Michael’s grandpa.
I lost all my grandparents at a young age and the last was my grandma on my father’s side right about sophomore year of college so this is not something new to me. However this one hurts. From all the small interactions I’ve had with Al, it has nothing but short and super sweet moments.
We talked about this infamous plum tree that he really wanted to show me to find out it was the neighbors tree. He would briefly mention about his time in Korea and traveling to India as well as a couple of other countries having to deal with magnets - not sure what type of job that was but definitely wanted to hear more. He ate my Dutch apple pie with vigor and found out he was a chocolate cake lover unfortunately later. I got to experience singing Christmas carols with him where he would sing the wrong lyrics but didn’t care, he was happy and had all that Christmas spirit - loved it! He’s a snoopy fan and would look at the graphic shirts I wore and point them out a few times. Here’s the craziest thing, of all my interactions with him, I’ve been told he had selective hearing from multiple family members, but he could hear me just fine 🤷🏻♀️ it’s all a mysterious on that one.
Our interactions may have been limited but they mean a lot. Especially when he reminded me of certain aspects of my grandparents who I’ve lost earlier. Michael and I are so happy he got to see us get married. I’ll never forget how we posed for a picture and he kept singing and waving his hands to pose. You also shouted that I was “a good one” to people coming closer to pose with him.
With so much spirit and kindness at 92-93 he definitely was also a great one that left us like the champ he is.
Rest in paradise Al!
Photo credit: