Grandfather

On my last post I said there was a story about my grandfather to tell.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a believer in the occult. I've never believed much in ESP or other types of extended senses. I am a Christian, and believe in the Christian concept of heaven.

First, my grandfather was one of the worlds most fun people to be around. But he was no saint. He smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, and caroused around like there was no tomorrow. I loved him dearly. I was with him a few hours before he died. Until I got there, nobody would acknowledge death to him, and I don't blame them. But I knew he was going. I had a chance to sit and tell him some remembrances, and while he couldn't talk, he did make noise and nod his head when I hit on a good memory. When I told him he better have a thermos of coffee, a bucket of minnows for crappie fishing, and a goose hunting spot ready when I got there to join him, his eyes opened, and he managed to croak out "I will". It was the last actual words I heard him say. And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will be waiting.

But now the story.

First of all, my grandmother (also mothers side) preceeded Granddad in death by about 8 months. One night my mother saw her, and talked to her. Mom said it was like a dream, but wasn't a dream. Grandmother said she was having a wonderful time with the 2 daughters that had already passed on. Mom asked about Granddad, and my grandmother said that there was a little problem, and he hadn't been able to join her yet. Then she was gone. My mother told us this, and we laughed hard. Not that we necessarily believed her, but it was SO Granddad it made a great story.

My youngest brother lives alone in Manhattan. He is gay, not an outdoors lover, and had little in common with Granddad. It was always a strained relationship between them. Little bro has achieved incredible success, he is at the top of his profession, and is known in his field around the world. He has a friend that is a psychic. This is not a quack who reads palms under a neon sign, he's said to be just a normal guy with abilities others don't have. I could tell several fascinating stories about this guy, but for now you'll have to do as I did and try to swallow it. Just before Thanksgiving he was visiting my brother, and the two of them were talking. During a lull, the psychic kind of drifted off. My brother didn't bother him, but after a few minutes he got concerned, laid a hand on him, and spoke to him. The psychic shook his head like he was waking up, and said "Sorry, I was having a conversation with your grandfather."

My brother takes a quick step back, and said "my grandfather?!" The psychic said it was a tall man, gray hair, LOTS of gray hair, wearing khaki pants and a plaid shirt. Well, that was definitely him. Keep in mind my brother had no pictures of Granddad, and had never before mentioned him to the psychic. Brother mentioned that Granddad would never visit him, he'd go to the other brothers instead, they had more in common. The psychic told him that Granddad said that he wanted to tell him that he loved him, and he was proud of him. Then the psychic told my brother that Granddad was going to stay for a few days - he didn't want him to spend Thanksgiving alone. Granddad always was adament about families being together on holidays.

Upon telling our mother all this, Mom said that Grandad had told her that he was very concerned about dying before he could tell my brother this. Obviously Grandad had this, and maybe a LOT more to accomplish before he can join his wife and daughters in the afterlife.

One by one, the events of this tale would be meaningless. But together, it makes a damn believable story. At least to me.

Back to more conventional posts tomorrow.