Author's Note: My grandfather really has meant a great deal to me. Growing up, my brother & I travelled summers with our grandparents, and during that time Granddaddy taught us a great deal. He was one of the most intelligent people that I have ever known, and now he has Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

Most of my poems just pop into my head, almost as if already written. This one, however, I struggled with for several months, so I could get it just right (and I still think it needs work).

His once steady hands
      . . . now shake.
            His once focused mind
                  . . . now wanders.
                        The wonderful man I knew
                               . . . now lost.
                                     Yet his spirit lives on in my heart.

His legacy of learning
       . . . passed on.
His years of wisdom
      . . . not lost.
His love of this life
      . . . a gift to us.

For to all of us,
     Granddaddy has been many things.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I remember his strong hands
      teaching me to swim.
I remember his patient voice
      teaching me history.
I remember his adventurous spirit
      showing me the world.

I remember his constant example
     showing us all how life should be lived.

His home with backyard pool,
                              a grandchild's retreat.

Box turtles to be found with each visit . . .

Big Black, Big Brown, and Spotty-Dotty, too.
      Granddaddy helped scour the bushes of his backyard zoo.

As we grandchildren grew older,
     our games changed to tests of knowledge like Trivial Pursuit . . .
With Granddaddy on our team, our victory was assured!
    . . . for Granddaddy knew arts and entertainment!
                                        . . . sports and leisure, too!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

But we began to notice gaps in his memories
                                                        just a few years ago.
As he struggled to remember stories long cherished
                                                        of family years past.
 . . . his precise recollections just didn't last.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now the engineer who built rockets
                       . . . can't recognize kin.
His great mind is trapped
                        . . . by barriers within.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 One day, when we have children all our own,
      . . . we’ll tell them of Granddaddy and all he has been.
Through us they will know the man
       who shaped our lives in so many ways.

And through us . . .
                   Granddaddy . . .
                                      will live on.