25 Apr 2009, Posted by Kelly in Blog,Featured, 0 Comments

Grandpa

My parents just got a card in from my grandpa’s friend in North Carolina. He wrote the most wonderful poem about him ever.

I’ll Always Remember

I’ll always remember the conversations
That we shared while you were here,
This included some of life’s victories
As well as loss and sometimes fears.

I found it interesting that your profession
Was the same as Jesus Christ,
You both shared the trade of carpenter
And faced some struggles in your life.

You were respected by your community
Because you believed in giving back,
A beacon for everyone that met you
An example of how we should act.

Whenever I think of a good man
Roland Jackson comes to mind,
A man of dignity and character
And a strength that’s hard to find.

You often spoke about your daughter
Whose heart is hurting due to grief,
And the son that you lost before
That you’re finally now able to see.

I’ll always remember you often told me
That your love for the Lord was true,
And regardless what you were facing
You know that He would see you through.

And yes I will always remember
A man that truly was my friend,
That I loved just like a brother
And one day I’ll see you again!!

Your Friend
Jay Roseborough

That poem took us all by shock. I’ve written something as well, which I am going to TRY to read, but in the end I may just pass it over to my dad to read along with the poem.

—–

My grandpa was a wonderful man and a pain, both at the same time. When he needed help, he’d call and he’d want you there…NOW. No, not in 2 minutes. You better already be there.

Grandpa had to of set some sort of close record for having Hospice around for over two and a half years. It seemed as though every time his kidney function went down a percent or two, he would push harder and get more freaking leaves raked up. I swear those leaves kept multiplying.

Every Christmas, it never failed. We got a box or tin of cookies. You know, the ones that have about 6 different types of cookies in them. I could always count on that being consistent. And every year, we would laugh because he never wrapped them. Well, this past Christmas Eve, Mom and I happened to be in CVS and Grandpa showed up. I went and got 4 boxes of cookies and took them to him and asked him if he had purchased them yet. He just looked at me, shook his head and laughed and walked over and got a gallon of wine.

This past Christmas, he was up in the attic getting ALL of his decorations down. The man could hardly walk and yet here he was worried about Christmas lights and fake snowflakes!

Jeff summed Grandpa up perfectly when we were at Hospice looking at what to purchase to “honor” him. There are butterflies, which cost, well….a lot of money. Jeff said “He’d be saying ‘I could make that and we could bring it here and hang it up ourselves. Why spend the money?’” Which is SO him. Why spend the money when he could make it or fix it. I think that was his motto.

Grandpa never said “I love you”, unless he was sick. Which ripped my heart out every time he said it. He was a fighter, that’s for sure.

Every time I thought of my grandpa one song came to mind. “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”, by Reba McEntire. Three prominent lyrics always stood out to me.
“The greatest man I never knew, lived just down the hall. Everyday we said hello, but never touched at all.
How was I to know he thought I hung the moon.
He never said he loved me, guess he thought I knew.”