Falzone M. Week 2 When History Dies

 When History Dies

    The relationship between a child and a grandparent is an incredibly special bond. There seems to be nothing short of spending time with grandparents that can quench a child’s desire for learning, playing, and love all in one sitting. Your grandparents are a key to a past that you do not know and may never learn to understand. This is why it is important that you give your grandparents time to tell their stories about their childhood and growing up in a time very different from today. I encourage you to not take for granted this time because I wish I had not.
    When my grandfather passed away this past fall, my only regret was never really learning about his life during the Great Depression, his first jobs, and the places he got to visit way before I or my father was born. I felt the crushing weight of never knowing what my great-grandmother was like or even the names of our distant relatives in Sicily. Old Sicilian Italian was the language that my grandfather was familiar with and the different phrases he said to us never seemed important to me until I realized I would never hear them again. I tried desperately to find the correct spelling and meaning for one of my favorite things he would say to me, but to no avail. This language along with his path in America had died with him. I cried when he died, mourning the loss of not just him but a history that was so rich and unimaginable to the average person. I remember my dad sitting next to my grandfather’s hospital bed, trying to encourage him to share one last story with me, but in his weakened state he no longer had the desire to share. I was broken-hearted for a while and kicked myself for my negligence. I had put off these deep conversations and tuned out of them even when they were happening. I had not taken notes and really committed to memory all of the knowledge that he spouted. I was convinced I was the worst grandchild in the world until I realized that moping would not change the outcome. I decided to do with my other grandparents what I wish I could have done with him. I asked questions, listened closely to answers, and took advantage of all of the knowledge they had acquired over time.
    My relationship with my grandfather and grandmother who are still with me is so strong and I am grateful to be learning so much about them. I do not think there will ever be a time where I will not think about my grandfather’s death and feel a twinge of guilt, but I have used these emotions to change as a person. I no longer take for granted the time that I have with my grandparents who are still alive and I have learned so much because of this. I feel that I need to be the generation that remembers because I want to be able to keep their legacy alive way after their time on earth.

Reverend Joseph Falzone "Grampy"
December 24, 1931- September 18, 2020