August 22, 2025

Is your 82nd birthday. Typically, I would call and sing Happy Birthday or better yet, come with cake and sing in person, like I did last year. But this year...you're celebrating in heaven with Jesus. I hope your great grandsons were there with Him to welcome you home. To be honest, I'm a little peeved you've got to meet them before me.

Large chocolate birthday cake with white frosting border displayed on a table with wood paneled walls.

Gramp. with his cake at his 80th birthday party

I found your pin in my purse. Well, it wasn't yours yet. Aiden picked it up from the commissary awhile ago and I stashed it in there (my purse) to give to you next time I saw you. A Vietnam Vet pin. I know how much your service in the Coast Guard meant to you. Even though your health was in decline due to service injuries, you were so proud of your time in duty to your country.

People gathered in a wood-paneled room with tables and decorations.
Classic turquoise Chevrolet car parked on a tree-lined road.

My children are so blessed to have known you. Not many get to say they have relationships with their grandparents, let alone GREAT grandparents. One of the last things you said to Aiden was that he looked like a slugger after he made the all star team. He beamed from the praise...which made the practice after your passing REALLY hard.

Vintage Ford tractor displayed outdoors on a gravel path with trees in background.
Couple dancing together at a celebration in an indoor venue.
Two people sitting together on a gray tractor in an outdoor setting.

You loved to brag about us older grandkids too. I know after I took those '57 Chevy photos last year, you were in the hospital for a bit and showed everyone who came in the room those pictures. You would have been so pleased to see how I was voted Best Photographer in Bangor. That Facebook post would have been shared with the comment, "That's wonderful! Gramp loves ya." And the newspaper clipping would be hung up in the house. I'm sure Grammie will put it up somewhere when I finally have a chance to give it to her.

Vintage Chevrolet Bel Air parked in front of residential homes on a cloudy day.
Classic turquoise Chevrolet Bel Air photographed from different angles on a suburban street.
Interior views of a car from the passenger side showing the dashboard and windshield.
Classic turquoise car photoshoot with people posing by vintage Chevrolet.
Large group gathering around a classic turquoise Chevrolet for photos.

The "married in" grandchildren were chatted up, at least I know you liked the notoriety of having a grandson that was a pilot in the USAF, even if he was an officer and your ranking superior. I never was able to find a challenge coin for you that had some type of joint USCG and USAF mission, but I tried.

Military cargo aircraft lined up on an airfield under cloudy skies.

And it wasn't just having great grand babies and career achievements. How we spent the summer of 2012 hitting every parade possible. So you could drive your "queen" granddaughter and show off the Camaro. The first picture Shane and I took together was while we were sitting on the back during the Southwest Harbor parade. You knew then that a man willing to sit on top of a car, in dress blues, on a hot day, with a girl he had only met the week before, wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. And he hasn't. He's still here 13 years later. We didn't scare him off. It takes a special person to love an Alley, that's for sure.

Vintage cars and spectators line a small town street during a parade or festival.
Group of people holding colorful umbrellas at a nighttime gathering.
Wedding celebration photos in front of classic turquoise car.
Crowd gathered outside a brick building during a celebration event.

Shane and his dad were drawn for moose permits this year. I don't know if you knew that or not. The drawing happened on your last "good" day. Sarah was visiting you and I was out capturing a wedding. Pretty sure you would be trying to be part of the plans. Or at least asking for a few moose steaks after the hunt which we would gladly give. I still remember you taking me out on the side by side 4 wheeler down in Machias and showing me the spot where you took down your one and only deer. The smell of crushed leaves and blueberry plants still takes me back to that day.

Group photo taken in front of blue banners at an indoor event.

Speaking of scents, I miss YOUR smell. An older gentleman will cross my path wearing your cologne and it makes me stop in my tracks. It's happened twice now. I want to ask if I can give them a hug, but know that would be a little odd and probably not behavior I would typically encourage my own children to do.

Large group of people sitting together on wooden benches in a bright room with decorative banners.
Group gathered for a photo in front of a golden wall at a formal event.

I'm not sure how to end this. How am I to sum up and thank you for all you did when words aren't enough, but you're too far away to hug. Maybe with a prayer.

People sitting together on a wooden bench in a blue-lit room.
Group photo of people gathered in a rustic wood-paneled room with windows.

Lord, thank You. For giving me a grandfather who knew how to push my grandmother's buttons and be unconditionally loving and annoying at the same time to her. Thank You, Father, for creating him to say things like, "Have I told you yet today that I love you?...Well, I do." "Oh Virginia, you're getting gray. I think it's beautiful." Where he would give us a sweet kiss on the head and say, "Gramp loves ya," at every goodbye. God. Thank You for making his love towards us so sweet, that goodbye is so hard. Give us peace and comfort during this time as Psalm 34:18 says, You are near to the brokenhearted and You saved the crushed in spirit. Thank You for Your death on the cross so that we have hope in heaven and seeing Gramp again someday. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Black and white images of car interior views while driving.