my grandpa

i can’t sleep. i don’t know why… i have many thoughts in my mind.  my grandpa, in short, is dying. i’m not trying to be morbid, but truth is he’s 90 with recurring cancer on chemo and alzheimers. i seriously love my grandpa; he is an amazing man. i always loved hearing his stories, listening to him sing and play guitar.

my grandpa used to make guitars… by hand. he had all the tools in his garage and one christmas he gave each of his 9 kids a guitar that he had made. i would LOVE to have something that he made; especially since I play guitar. he is such an inspiration. i remember my dad binding all kinds of sheet music and lyrics that my grandpa had written and/or saved… my dad put them into a 3-ring binder as a gift… a few binders actually.

i learned how to play piano on the piano that still sits in his home. i was spending the night and learned how to play “mary had a little lamb” at around six years old; i called my mom and dad to play over the phone… i remember being so excited… feeling so accomplished.

now i write my own music and play guitar regularly. the last time i was visitting my grandparents before my grandpa got sick, he and i went into a back room and played guitar and sang. i played a couple of my orginals and he harmonized and played guitar and mandolin… both of which he had made. i will remember that forever.

i remember seeing johnny cash and hearing johnny cash as a child and thinking it was my grandpa. maybe that is why i like johnny cash so much now days. i’m going to call and see if i can get some copies of my grandpa singing and playing guitar… i know that he used to make a lot of tapes and such.

i hope i get the chance to play with him just one more time. if not, i will cherish that one last time… in the back room… just me and him… alone with our music.