Grandpa: My Remarks

My name is Jason and this is for my grandpa. You may know him as Pop-pop, Daddy, Junior, Uncle Junior, Mr. Jesse or Jesse.The last time I was in Omaha, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents kitchen table working the puzzle with him and listening to his stories. I wrote many of them down but as I read through them thinking about what I would say here, I would get about halfway through one and think, "Nope. Can't say that in church" or "Oops, I'm not sure that's for mixed company" or "Nah, I don't want to put all grandpa's business out on front street." So, what I will share is a story about my grandfather and my uncle Mike...in his words:

One day not too long after Mike passed, Pauline went out of the house. I was sitting right here in the kitchen doing the puzzle. She yelled she was leaving, I heard her keys and heard the car start and drive away. Some time later, the latch of the door unlocked and I heard keys rattle. I can still hear it now. I didn't even look up. I just assumed she had forgotten something and came back. After awhile, I realized that she wasn't in the house. I figured I must not have heard her leave again. So, she comes back awhile later and I say to her, "What did you have to come back to the house for." She looked at me and said, "I didn't come back, I was gone this whole time." Then I started thinking about the sounds. It was the latch unlocking and then a rattle of the keys. Now, when you enter the house, you don't hear the rattle of the keys because you're holding them in your hand a certain way, you've got to grip them to turn the lock. But Mike, when he would leave the house, he would unlock the door and rattle his keys for me to let me know he was going.

It was then that he knew that Uncle Mike would always be with him.

Spirit endures.

You will always be with us. We will never be without you.

We love you.

Thank you.

-February 22, 2007, Omaha, Nebraska.