Happy Birthday Papa Bill f

Monday, October 08, 2007

9:43 PM - Happy Birthday Papa Bill
Current mood: relaxed
Category: Life


One of my fondest memories is of my "Papa" Bill. Papa Bill was my paternal grandmother's (we called her Granny) second husband. Squeezed between her first husband and Papa Bill was my paternal grandfather Papa Ted. Papa Ted and Granny had two boys. One was my father.

Papa Bill taught me how to play chess. Truth be told, today I'm a pretty kick ass chess player. I should be because I've had twenty something years of practice. I don't remember ever beating Papa Bill. Looking back I think he taught me as a way to keep me entertained and out of the way of the other "adult" type activities that were going on at my Granny's house. It's not like I was a bad opponent though. I put up a fight. I still do. Only now, like everything with age, it's a bit easier.

Every time I see a chess piece I think of my Papa Bill. He was a kind man. Tall, dark, and handsome in his own way. A bit portly. I remember him constantly asking my Granny if she "wanted a trip to the moon." It wasn't until I was older that I realized he was quoting Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners. It was a few more years until I realized the resemblance.

Papa Bill had a comforting lap. I remember liking to spend time there. He was a jovial man with a deep laugh. Someone once asked me how old I was. I responded, "six." I only held up five fingers. He didn't let me live that one down.

Papa Bill was a Wonderbread delivery man who was fond of breakfast at the most obscure restaurants. My favorites were Bob's Big Boy and JB's. We met him on his route for breakfast a couple of times. I always ordered the biscuits and gravy. Some things don't change.

Papa Bill fought a long battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. He lost. Papa Bill passed away April 18, 1996. I was a senior in high school. I got to visit with him one last time before he passed away. It was right after the doctors diagnosed him with ALS. I knew it was the last time I'd get to see him in this life. It was one of the most bitter sweet moments of my life. A definitive moment to say the least. Sadly, I don't remember most of the trip. Only that it felt like the longest trip back to Wyoming from California that I have ever been on. Leaving someone behind is never easy. Leaving the man I felt had been the closest thing I had known to a grandfather figure in my brief existence was even harder.

I believe strongly in a spirit life after death. I believe that those we have loved and lost live their lives close to ours with only a thin mist to separate their reality from ours.

Last night the veil was so sheer I know I felt Papa Bill here with me. I woke at 4 this morning. The smell of Brut was in the air. The edge of the bed gave as if someone with some weight to them was sitting down. It wasn't a scary feeling. I felt comforted.

This afternoon I came home to grab a quick bite to eat. As you expect one to, I closed the front door on my way out. I heard the noise. Without opening the door I knew what had fallen. A glass bowl that has sit high and away from the ledge of the bookshelf for almost a year now jumped off the shelf.

Papa Bill would have been 75 today.

Happy birthday Papa Bill.