March 1
March 1
Bubba (it feels wrong to call him Stan, he was always Bubba to me), was my first friend. Within moments of being born, he was holding me in his arms and talking to me, and I responded with incomprehensible baby noises (incomprehensible to everyone else at least, Bubba always understood me perfectly). We'd do that for hours, baffling everyone else, but understanding each other perfectly. That was a skill we never lost. As I grew older, he became one of my closest confidants, and my best friend all through childhood.
When I was a little older, he'd spend hours in the garage workshop making me swords, spears, bows, and arrows. Then we'd hike down to the far end of the property, and he'd help me build a fort (which I would promptly forget about and leave to the spiders). He never minded. Looking back, those years all passed so fast, where did they go?
When I reached HS, I always looked forward to my weekly Friday lunch with Bubba, at some local diner (which one varied with the week). I never will understand his love of Denny's, but I always enjoyed his company. It was a welcome and needed break from the drudgery of high school drama, moments that forever stand apart from time. Somehow, it feels like somewhere, we are still sitting in one of those old diner booths, laughing. And yet, in another way, those lunches passed so fast.
As I became an adult, we never drifted apart, even as my life took me far from home. When I joined the Marine Corps and went to boot camp, I looked forward to weekly (or more often daily) letters from Bubba, often with comic strips and articles cut from the newspaper and stuffed inside the letter. He always knew what would interest me, and what would brighten my day, he had a talent for that.
When I left the Marine Corps, I moved home and lived with him and Mama (Elaine), for 6 months before law school. It was a gift that few people get in life, to spend this much time with their grandparents, as adults. The days flew by, and soon, they were over. Tears were shed at the airport when I headed for Virginia, but they were happy tears. That year, Bubba came out and visited. By then, travel was hard on him, but it was important to him to see my new life up close, and we had a blast, eating good food and telling dirty jokes, just like old times. I think he enjoyed seeing that I had become a man, and had built a life worth living, as he'd spent so much time showing me how to do. Again, the time passed too fast, it always did with Bubba.
Halfway through law school, my sister (Lucy) got married, and the entire family went to Michigan to be there. I sat up late with Bubba the night before the ceremony, and he told me how he still missed his own grandparents, who'd passed on over 50 years before. He talked about them for hours, and I listened. I knew then, when he passed I would feel the same, and that one day I would be sitting in his chair, telling a younger generation about Bubba, trying to convey him through words, and inevitably failing to capture all of him. It reminded me to cherish the time I had with him, I knew a day would come when he would be gone. It still feels like it came too fast.
Bubba,
It's not goodbye, just goodbye for now. I'll miss you until I see you on the other side. It all went by so fast, but only because we had the best of times, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'll never forget you, you'll go with me always.
When I was a little older, he'd spend hours in the garage workshop making me swords, spears, bows, and arrows. Then we'd hike down to the far end of the property, and he'd help me build a fort (which I would promptly forget about and leave to the spiders). He never minded. Looking back, those years all passed so fast, where did they go?
When I reached HS, I always looked forward to my weekly Friday lunch with Bubba, at some local diner (which one varied with the week). I never will understand his love of Denny's, but I always enjoyed his company. It was a welcome and needed break from the drudgery of high school drama, moments that forever stand apart from time. Somehow, it feels like somewhere, we are still sitting in one of those old diner booths, laughing. And yet, in another way, those lunches passed so fast.
As I became an adult, we never drifted apart, even as my life took me far from home. When I joined the Marine Corps and went to boot camp, I looked forward to weekly (or more often daily) letters from Bubba, often with comic strips and articles cut from the newspaper and stuffed inside the letter. He always knew what would interest me, and what would brighten my day, he had a talent for that.
When I left the Marine Corps, I moved home and lived with him and Mama (Elaine), for 6 months before law school. It was a gift that few people get in life, to spend this much time with their grandparents, as adults. The days flew by, and soon, they were over. Tears were shed at the airport when I headed for Virginia, but they were happy tears. That year, Bubba came out and visited. By then, travel was hard on him, but it was important to him to see my new life up close, and we had a blast, eating good food and telling dirty jokes, just like old times. I think he enjoyed seeing that I had become a man, and had built a life worth living, as he'd spent so much time showing me how to do. Again, the time passed too fast, it always did with Bubba.
Halfway through law school, my sister (Lucy) got married, and the entire family went to Michigan to be there. I sat up late with Bubba the night before the ceremony, and he told me how he still missed his own grandparents, who'd passed on over 50 years before. He talked about them for hours, and I listened. I knew then, when he passed I would feel the same, and that one day I would be sitting in his chair, telling a younger generation about Bubba, trying to convey him through words, and inevitably failing to capture all of him. It reminded me to cherish the time I had with him, I knew a day would come when he would be gone. It still feels like it came too fast.
Bubba,
It's not goodbye, just goodbye for now. I'll miss you until I see you on the other side. It all went by so fast, but only because we had the best of times, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'll never forget you, you'll go with me always.
