I know what he'll miss the most.

Hershey's chocolate
and Tasty Cakes
cold orange soda

Sunday dinner
with the family
though he's missed
that for a while now

the sound of
laughter
both his own
and those around him

his beautiful wife
and the way
he could see
the last 67 years
in her eyes.

telling stories
beautiful and amazing stories
about his first car
his first love
roller skating
movies that were a nickel
and adventures in airplanes

playing skipbo
dominoes
and pick-up-sticks

He'll miss me.
Not in the same way I miss him
with tears and a broken heart
but with a gentle yearning
that makes him pause now and then
just to see if I've made my way home.

and when I do
he'll call out my name
"Sandy dandy, sweet as candy"
and greet me with a hug.
which is exactly what I miss the most.

I wrote this in the months after my grandpa died and never published it.  I guess I thought it wasn't finished, or wasn't good enough.  Now I just want it here to remember.