He Was a Good Good Man

My Grandfather's name was John Yates Merrell but everyone called him J.Y. I can still hear my Grandmother's voice as she said his name. The initials J.Y. aren't a common pair but they fit him so well. 

My Grandma saw my Grandpa on campus one day and without ever meeting him she pointed to J.Y. in the crowd and told her friend "I'm going to marry him." Do you blame her? He was a stud.

I don't ever remember hearing my Grandpa raise his voice at us kids, although I'm sure we probably deserved it. Maybe things got heated when the grandkids broke the pool table light, but aside from that he was a gentle giant.

During Christmas or family birthday parties we all opened our gifts one at a time, patiently waiting our turn. Whenever it was my Grandpa's turn his gifts were already 75% unwrapped and the box "just magically" slipped open. Every time, without fail.

He always kept us laughing. Always. He was so subtle with his sense of humor that you sometimes had to do a double take to catch the smirk on his face or the glint in his eye. Stealing food from our plates or giving "serious" eye contact when we made toasts at Christmas. And when singing the twelve days of Christmas his "Three French Hens" would morph into "Three Sleeping Cockroaches." He also sang us Happy Birthday in whatever language we wanted. It wasn't until I was older that I realized he didn't actually know how to sing Happy Birthday in Mongolian, he was just making the words up.

And most importantly, he loved my Grandmother. After my Grandmother fell and was slowly slipping away, she held on for days. My Grandfather got sick a year later and he passed in less than 24 hours. My Mom told me, "I think my Mom held on for so long because she didn't want to leave my Dad, and when he got sick he passed quickly because all he wanted was to return to her."

As all of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren gathered in my Grandparents house for the last time we shared stories and laughed and remembered. Even though the house felt different, the walls just looked like walls instead of the place that housed my Grandparents, the memories were real and vivid. We were lucky kids, I hope we do our Grandparents proud.

J.Y., Dad, Grandpa, Papa you are loved and will be missed. Make sure to tell Grandma I say Hi.