My Grandpa

My Grandpa, Dominic, and my dad

In the same week Dominic turned 10 months, I learned my grandpa has a rare form of skin cancer that is ultimately going to kill him. Not to sound too "Lion King" about this, but it really does make you think about the circle of life. As one life is just getting going, another is coming to an end.

Unfortunately, Dominic will not likely remember my grandpa. Even if he does, it won't be the same man I remember... and nothing makes me sadder.

He'll never get to hear my grandpa order his coffee and tell the waitress to "hold the mayonnaise"(I don't know why he said it, but he said it. EVERY time). He'll never play cards with my grandpa and wonder the entire time if he's cheating (he probably was).

He'll never call my grandpa and say "let's take a trip" and no matter what he was doing he was ready to go. We went all over. Riverside to see family, Mariposa to go fishing, Yuma for God know's what. We even drove all the was across the country and back (can't believe we didn't kill each other).

He'll never hear my grandpa tell him (and truly believe) he was the best at whatever it was he was doing. My grandpa thought I was Pele on the soccer field and Michael Jordan on the basketball court (I was neither). He never missed one of my high school soccer games (home or road). Even at soccer camp, in 100-degree weather, he was standing on the sidelines (I'm not even sure he was allowed).

I will make sure to tell Dominic how his great-grandfather was always there for his daddy. Once I took my Subaru station wagon off-roading (it was 4-wheel drive) and got stuck. I called my grandpa in a panic to help me get it out before my dad got home. He raced over and we got to digging. We were still digging when my dad drove by.

I want Dominic to understand his great-grandfather has a huge heart. When I was in elementary school we had "grandparents day". My grandma and grandpa came every year, and every year they would adopt everyone in the class who's grandparents couldn't make it. They would invite all those kids to sit with us at lunch, and my grandpa would spend the hour making jokes. (Years later when one of my friends got married, he invited my grandparents to the wedding. Their invitation read "Grandma & Grandpa".)

Dominic will only have the art on our walls to know how talented my grandpa is. My grandpa is a true artist. He paints, sculpts, draws, you name it he could do it. When I was in high school, he really got into make walking canes. His best had a bear on the top. People always told him he could make them and sell them, but he was always more interested in giving them away. The same with his paintings. Now I wish I had taken more.

I will make sure that Dominic knows how important my grandpa is in my life. How some of the best parts of me, are the best parts of him. I want Dominic to know, that Vic McKean may not have always been the best man, but he was always the best grandfather I could ask for.

I love you grandpa.


Now that I have you depressed... I have a movie for you to watch. Dominic is becoming VERY mobile. See for yourself.