May 29 my great grandpa would have been 99 years old. He passed away a few days before he turned 98. Over the last few days I've thought about him a lot. We were really close at the end. He has passed away in his sleep while I was visiting my in-laws. To say it hit me hard, is very fair.
I went to high school over 30 minutes from where we lived since I chose to go to the new magnet school. I happened to be a 15 minute walk away from my grandpa's house. So, my mom pretty much forced me to stay with him a night or two during the school week. At first I thought it was a punishment. But as the years went on, I looked forward to it. Our routine was the same everyday: I got there and worked on homework, we would go to Carrow's for dinner or make a frozen meal because my grandpa never cooked, we would hang out a bit, have ice cream and go to bed. When I got to my senior year, he switched from Carrow's to Danny's where I worked a few nights a week. He would come in every time I worked.
When I got to college, I would pick him up and we still would go on lunch or dinner dates. I know it was something he really looked forward to.
As he got older I was older I was told he could pass away and to enjoy every moment with him. I honestly thought he would never die, he was like the enegizer bunny. He had survived a kamikaze bomber in WWII when his carrier sunk. He had survived cancer a couple times. He broke his first bone in his 90's. He kept going no matter what event hit him. He never slowed down. He gave up driving in his 90's and loved that we would take more places. I just really thought there was nothing that could stop him.
As he slowed down a little more and needed a little more helpful reminders about dinner time, we moved him from the VA home he had been at for about six years to a different elderly home that had more one on one care.
He was only there a few days before I got that call that he had passed. He had passed away in his sleep happy and peaceful. It was Memorial Day. It was a day I knew was special to him. A day he would always honor because he had know many that given their lives for our county.
What always baffled me was a few days before I took him for a physical and he passed with flying colors for his age. Yeah, he used a walked, couldn't hear good because he refuse hearing aids, and took naps every chance he could. When I had taken back home he told me I was one of the best things that ever happened to him and that he loved me more. He told me to have fun on vacation and that he would miss me.
I never would have guessed that would be the last time I saw him.
Now that he's gone, I try to remember that he got to witness so many big events in my life. He was there when I graduated high school and college. He was there for me wedding.
I'm really happy I quit my horrible cooperate job when I did, because it gave me more one on one time with my grandpa before he passed.
I really wish he could have lived a little longer to meet my son. He always was asking when I was going to have kids. I really wish he was still here to know I was naming my little boy after him.
Not many people realize he wasn't my great grandpa by blood but by marriage. He would have never let you know. He took care of everyone in the family like they were his own flesh and blood.
I always cry, pretty instantly, while thinking about my my grandpa. I was the closer to him over any other grandparent. I was blessed to know him so well and here so many stories. I can't wait to pass on all I've learned from him and to continue telling his stories from his 23 years in the Navy that he was incredibly proud of.
And I'll always miss him.
Willis Richard Adair
May 29, 1917 - May 25, 2015
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