Grandpa

Growing up I was never really sure how I felt about my grandpa. It's not that I didn't love him and appreciate him, not at all, I just was never quite sure if he liked me! My Dad explained at Grandpa's funeral that Grandpa didn't like it when people bragged about their children or grandchildren in public. My Dad can only remember once or twice throughout his life where Grandpa said something nice about him, and one of the times my Grandpa didn't realize that my Dad was still in the room. He would tell everyone else how much he loved you when you weren't around but he rarely said it directly to you.
So growing up he would constantly correct what I did on the farm, trying to make me a better person, of course instead of seeing the value of what he was trying to do I just thought he didn't like me and thought he was trying to tear me down. But over the years I have realized that even though my Grandpa never said good things about me directly to me he still loved me and the rest of his grandchildren very much.
Two of my most memorable experiences with Grandpa happened while we were riding in a truck going to some job out on the farm. One day my Grandpa asked, "Michael what do you want to be when you get older?"
I have always liked to draw so I told him, "Well I like art, so I think I want to be an Artist."
He simply said, "You don't want to be an Artist... they don't make any money."

A few years later we were riding in the truck and he asked again, "Michael what do you want to be when you get older?"
I said, "Well I really like to write stories, so I think I want to be an author."
He said this, "I wrote a book... nobody bought it, don't be an author!"

Haha that's just the way he was. I remember him being gruff and hard, but I remember how much he loved my Grandma. My Grandpa smiled a lot and had a twinkle in his eye, even if he didn't tell me he liked me to my face, I learn how to see it in his eyes. My Grandpa was one of the hardest working men that I have ever known. Even as he grew old and forgetful he would still come out every morning to work on the farm with my Dad until he was physically unable to.
Grandpa Calvin died on Christmas day. I knew Grandpa was very close to passing on as me, my Mom, and my sister Aislinn drove over to Grandpa's house Christmas day. The sun was coming up behind the mountains and there was a beautiful almost unnatural orange light cast over everything, I won't ever forget that morning. I wasn't sure if I would cry when it happened or not, just because oh how I remember Grandpa. But that morning before he died I finally broke down as I walked around his house and I saw pictures of him. I hope that I can live to be just a fraction of the person he was. I love my Grandpa very much even though like him I have an unusual way of showing it.