Our Days are Like the Mist

I'm a little girl walking excitedly (and curiously) behind grandpa. I came to visit for a few days and already grandpa has prepared a surprise for me! Oh wow was I excited! Grandpa knew when to make my day! As I walk behind him, I notice how his stride is always so strong and sure. Even though I noticed him getting just a little older, and just a little more tired, I don't see that affecting his busy life. My grandpa is a beekeeper by profession. He lived and breathed this career of his. Business was going very well for him, and he was always out of town tending to his bees. Now here I am visiting grandpa and grandma (and dodging hiper bees in the yard that grandpa had brought in their beehives. They really bite painfully!). I follow grandpa out to the garden and to my amazement grandpa leads me to a little hole dug in the ground and lo and behold I see a mama cat with her kittens! I almost melted on the spot (animals are my weakness)! The kittens were the tiniest things on earth! They were still blind but were climbing all over their mom in an effort to find some warmth. Grandpa proudly let me pat the mama cat and told me that when the kittens grew up, we could keep one. My grandpa made my day once again! In the later days to come, there were baby rabbits, baby calves, puppies, and dogs that grandpa presented to me and he knew what made me happy. My grandpa was awesome!

Here I am sitting in my car watching in the rearview mirror as grandpa slowly makes his way to the main entrance of his apartment complex. I want to make sure he gets in safely (he tends to fall more often now, but always brushes off our help). I see the grandpa that once had the sure footing of a man with a purpose in life. He had the strength and determination of a giant! He brought up his children, built his home, built his business, and worked, worked, worked! He was always on the go! Now I see grandpa's steps have become very slow. With the help of a cane he continues on his walk in life. Sometimes I would see him crying and regretting for the things past or for the things that were lost. He still tends to invite me over to his apartment to show me something new that he acquired and I know it makes his day when I exclaim or smile about whatever he would share with me. When I share the latest news about my nephews goofy words, or how he pronounces new words that make you laugh uncontrollably I see my grandpa just light up. When I bring a new picture of me or our family to him, I see grandpas's happiness radiating out of his eyes. And then I know, I made his day!