Goodbye, Grandpa

[Loki'sMischief]

My grandfather taught me how to be strong,
It would be easy to say that he was a redwood
Ed Whitford was certainly a tall man,
Despite this, it was not an imposing stance
That showed his strength/
He leaned, always at the same level as the other trees
In the vast forest
That is made up of those fortunate enough
To know him/
He was a redwood
Deeply rooted in a faith that withstood storms
Ed Whitford had a way of sheltering
Without overshadowing/
His best friend called him Mr. Stiff
I really like that description,
His was not the biggest of personalities
But he more than made up for that
With the size of his heart/
The man was a life raft,
Prepared at any moment to rescue those
Lost in the middle
Of their own personal oceans
He had a way of bringing those lost souls
Safely back to shore/
He saved,
And in the process
Created new vessels
To share the work/
Ed Whitford did not have any children of his own
But he has an amazing family
That call him dad,
After the Korean War
He adopted my mother, my aunt Susie, and my uncle Kim
They had come from desolation,
This had not allowed for growth
Each started as something small, and malnourished
They grew,
In the vast forest/
He gave them the special care they needed,
All the while they grew strong
He watched,
With a proud smile on his face/
While working as a missionary in Mexico
My aunt Lucy joined the forest,
And later on,
A good man named Nathan was given that same shelter,
Ed Whitford shared his roots with those who had none
His children were chosen,
A love as strong as blood/
I see his strength in them,
I see it in my mother,
I would like to think a bit of it
Is somewhere inside of me/
It has been asked,
If a tree falls and no one is around
Does it make a sound?
When my grandfather fell
There was no chance to answer that
He had a small portion of his vast forest
By his side/
I wondered something else
If a tree falls, what does it become?
Even toppled,
Up rooted,
Lying prone,
He was a redwood
He could be nothing less,
There was still something there
A strength that withstood such a sudden fall/
I desperately desired this belief to prove true
If only he still stood tall!
He could
He would
If only….
If only cancer was not the sharpened axe
In the expert hands
Of the woodsman
Who looked over us all/
At 6:53 on January 20th
My grandfather passed away,
I speak of him using the allegory of the redwood
Because it is much easier to speak of men who were trees
Until they fell
Then it would be to tell you
That it was something I don’t entirely have words for
To see the strongest man That I have ever known
Struggle his last few days on Earth/
For everything that Ed Whitford did for this world,
And the many people whose lives he touched
I can say that he was loved, respected, and admired,
This is all that we can hope for in death,
That we lived our life in a way that we make one heck of a sound
When we fall/
I will miss my grandfather so very much
But as I looked around at the faces
In the room where his last breath
Lingered as a touch on each of our foreheads,
I am confident that his strength
His roots,
And his passion for helping those
Not yet able to stand on their own
Will never leave this world/
This place is better for it,
We
Are better,
For having had him in it//

[gooseberry]

Oh my goodness....where do I begin? I fear I may not be able to do this justice but I'll try.But first of all,may I offer my sincerest condolences in your loss.

This poem has a rich seam of love that runs right through it.The metaphor of the redwood touches the reader in the sense that Grandpa's influence has had a gigantic effect over the speaker.But not only the speaker is touched,the reader is too in a way that I would not have considered possible.

The subject matter is highly emotive and it would have been easy to unintentionally slip into an overly sentimental mindset.But at no point does this happen,the speaker moves in beautiful and heart rending metaphors to paint a vivid picture of a larger than life man.There are such astute observations here too,the reference to the sound a tree makes when it falls created an image in my mind that brought tears to my eyes.And I didn't even know him,but I feel as though I did? In light of that,you have succeeded hugely in this beautiful and glowing tribute to a man you so clearly loved.

I'm not sure what else to add,other than I was deeply moved and I hope this response gives you even the slightest degree of comfort.Simply brilliant writing and thank you,it was an honour.

[Baywriter]

I cannot possibly follow gooseberry's awesome comment, but I just wanted to let you know that this poem really hit me for many reasons. Firstly, I recently lost my grandfather myself, and that loss is still lingering with me, so for that reason, I really felt connected to the speaker in this poem. Secondly, this poem was just really well written and expressed. I was moved by this poems narrative quality, and I thought the seemingly erratic line breaks depicted the chaos and racing thoughts that the mind goes through after such a meaningful loss. This was powerful. Thank you for this.

Bay

[queenjellybean]

I wholeheartedly agree. The amount of love that flowed from this piece...humbled me. I loved the image of a redwood, it is strong, enduring, indomitable. Jonathan, I have loved your poetry before, and continue to be in awe of your fantastic work. Thank you so much for sharing this personal piece, sweet friend.

[Chelle]

Jonathan, good to see things from you. Have to say this was certainly emotional to read and probably to write. We all have those who we admire that touch our lives and when they leave, it leaves a hole that we can't fill. We struggle to understand but sometimes we fail. Still, it is people like that who make life worthwhile.

[karrie]

Oh my this really touched me! I could feel the love and the loss flowing through each line. Wonderful! Congrats on the well deserved Spotlight!

[JASON]

Now that is a proper tribute - he would have been proud to hear those words...
congratulations on the light.

[Mike6]

Poetry does beautiful things and this is one of them. Such a moving tribute. Congratulations on the spotlight. Very powerful poem. Thanks so much for sharing this intimate part of your life w/ us.

[LorettaYoung]

What a beautiful tribute; made all the more admirable for all you grandfather passed on to you to share with others. Congratulations on the spotlight. Loretta

[BarryC]

simply awesome poetry

[Josie]

What a gift, to know how to shelter without overshadowing! This tribute to a grandfather will be treasured by all who have known such a person in their own lives, who are searching to live a good life that contributes to the well being of others, who wish to believe in a better world because there are people like your grandfather who embrace and share the true meaning of love. Congratulations on the TPS Spotlight.

[inflames]

This is lovely, Loki. What beautiful sentiments. Congrats on your spotlight!