Gone, such an empty word,
Where does it say, in the book of life,
When we are dead and gone,
That we do not remain physically,
God cannot “convince me”,
Science cannot “prove” to me,
You are not here with me,
With all of Us.

When the warm summer winds,
Breeze so graciously across my face,
Carrying the scent of every blade of grass,
That fell to the mercy of the mower,
I’ll know you are there.

With every drop of sweat,
Wiped off my bushy brows,
As I stand in the dog days of your favorite season,
I’ll know you are there,
Because no one could possible enjoy,
The summer heat and humid air,
As much as the man with the silver hair.

With every wire I snip,
And every tomato I grip,
With every crab I catch,
And every game the Phils met their match,
With every stroke of my paint brush,
Or every heap of compost I turn to mush,
And with every battleship I see,
And every WW2 documentary that fascinates me,
I can say, without a second of thought,
In my presence, is a great man who taught,
This grandson, at every stage of life,
Without speaking a literal word,
That the meaning of life, is in the relationships we make,
The friends we hold dear, 
And the only family we will ever have.

With every single moment we spent together,
A chemical reaction took place in my brain,
Tucked away thanks to my hippocampi,
You, ARE physically with me, permanently,
Buried somewhere in the depths of my medial temperal lobe,
You will never leave, this I know,
So, when I hear the sympathy of another,
I will not hold back the tears, but they will subside,
And when tomorrow comes,
And the realization kicks in,
That you have taken your final bow,
 I will not be able to listen to you,
But, I can still hear you,
Though I will not be able to smell your garden,
You will be in the scent of every fruit and vegetable I
indulge in,
Though I will not be able to see you,
There are endless pictures, videos, and stories of us
downloaded in my mind,
I will feel you in every electrical shock,
Telling me I should have turned the breaker off,
And with every taste of the Phily Diner,
You will be there, as I walk out,
To tell me “these are the worlds greatest sugar cookies,

You see, the past is only the future with the lights on,
And you, the only grandfather I ever knew,
Are so engrained in all of my past,
That I can see you guiding me,
Through the unknown darkness of my impending life,
Because I have never taken steps towards the future, 
Without presently knowing how my past has shaped it, 
As I say my last goodbye to you POP,
I think of how much you stressed the importance of love and
family,
You were never the same after Grandmom passed, 
I know you barged through the gates of heaven, 
Yelling “JOANN”
I cant help but smile, when I think of the embrace, 
She receives from you, and I can hear your heart healing
now, 
Your life was epic, 
And in my mind, you and grandmom are completing the
fairytale ending it deserved.