Grandpa

The greatest man I ever knew

Lived at 414 Richmond Avenue.

LaGrange Park, IL was the town

Where this man so world renown

In the beautiful ballroom would entertain

When he wasn’t driving the Sante Fe Train.

He would play the guitar and he would sing.

When he tickled the ivories, he made them ring.

Friends and family would gather around

Just so they could hear the sound

Of the piano playing and the songs he sung.

I’d sit right by him, I was so young.

I was amazed and perhaps in awe

Of this great man, Harry Roland, my grandpa.

Sometimes he’d do little magic tricks,

I’d watch real close because he was quick.

Then I’d look at him and say

“Grandpa, how’d you do that anyway?”

And, of course, he wouldn’t tell,

Not wanting to break his magic spell.

He loved entertaining everyone.

He was so cool and so much fun.

I remember we went for ice cream one day,

We stopped at the bank along the way.

The teller said she’d like one too,

So he dropped her ice cream at the drive thru.

I guess, at heart, he was a big kid

Who enjoyed life and all he did.

But grandpa was also very wise.

I could always go to him for advice.

He lived life to the fullest, right up to the end.

He was my hero, confidant, friend.

Then one day my grandpa was gone.

He’d played his last tune, sung his last song.

He was very unique in his own way

And I love and miss him still to this day.

I carry his memory deep in my heart,

So we’ll never be truly apart.

And if I close my eyes I can see

Grandpa at the piano, singing to me.

Written by Taffy OKelly 5-17-1999

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My singing in church with 20 dollars and a photographer dream

My daughter and I walk into a church…it is completely flooded with water.  (Seems they are doing a mass baptismal.)  Of course, being petrified of water myself, I will not venture inside.  “I’ll drown!” I scream.  Suddenly, it was like someone pulled a plug and all the water was gone.

The preacher was a woman and she was dressed in long white robes.  She proceeded to lead the choir in a joyful rendition of “There’s a hole in the Bottom of the Sea” followed by “The 12 Days of Christmas”.

They then passed around a plate…not for the congregation to contribute, but to give each member something.  I found $20.00 in my envelope, and kindly asked what that was for.  The preacher answered “It seems the police department came into some extra money and gave it to the church, and I thought why not distribute it amongst our congregation?”

At that point, my daughter is feeling ill, so we must leave.  She goes out first, while I gather up our belongings.  I can’t find her, so I locate the stairs to go out, and instead of stairs, I have to climb down a ladder.  I finally find her outside, and instead of being outside the church, we are outside my old high school, where there is a photographer sitting in his car with a camera.  My daughter says “That guy took your picture out here years ago, and he stopped me and said he had to take my picture because I looked just like you.”   Then, we walked down the street, got on the bus and went home.

 

My sitting in my bed dream.

I have to blog this while it is still fresh in my mind.  Most of this dream takes place in my bedroom.  (Keep your minds out of the gutter people…it’s not THAT kind of dream.)  In my dream I get up to blow my nose, look out the window to find it is snowing the motherload of snow outside.  I go back to bed and tell my husband “It is snowing buckets!”

At this point a tv appears in the bedroom and a commercial comes on for this napsack made by a diaper company.  Whilst it is intended for mothers to store diapers in, it is so much more than just a mere diaper bag.  It seems it is a great all purpose waterproof tote.  You can take it camping, use it to store your clothes, food items, as a raingear headcover.  And for just 19.95 you can get double the amount if you order right now!  Magically I have one appear and the hubby says “Put it on your head.”, so I do.  He tells me I either look Amish or like a nun.  Then we start singing Amazing Grace with the Amish and Catholics who are now gathered in the bedroom.  I am still sitting in my bed.

At this point I start working on editing photos from my bed, when I learn that my son can’t get the tailgate closed on a truck.  So, with my nifty waterproof napsack still on my head (just in case it rains), we decide to rescue him.  First, my husband has to go to the fruit store though, because evidently, we needed some fruit.  And even though we are driving in the car, I am still, you guessed it, sitting in my bed.

I then awoke from my dream, got up to blow my nose and looked out the window to find it snowing the motherload of snow outside.