March 28, 2023
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
– Winnie the Pooh
Robbie was inconsolable when his grandfather Phil died. At the military funeral, he stood beside his mother and sister with his aunt and his cousins as an Air Force jet did a fly-over far above the cemetery. An honor guard fired three volleys, and a bugler played Taps. They presented the folded flag that draped Phil’s coffin to his two adopted daughters with three fired cartridges inside, signifying “duty, honor and sacrifice.”
Robbie’s grandfather served in World War II. He drove supply trucks for Gen. George S. Patton and was injured when his truck hit a landmine in Italy.
It was all so strange to the boy. Death and loss and grief. He was 6 when his grandfather went to live with them, and over the next 12 years, they did everything together. They laughed and joked and became best of friends. When he had to go somewhere, his grandfather took him in his convertible ’69 Ford Mustang. But his life was turned upside down when his grandfather died. Grief was something he had never experienced.
Even though his mother told him, “Grandpa is in a better place,” it was no consolation. What better place?
Then, he had the dream. In the dream, his grandfather was dressed in his favorite sweater, and he was laughing. He told Robbie everything was going to be all right and that he was just fine. Most unusual of all, his grandfather had a full head of black hair … even though he was bald and gray when he died.
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Sometimes our journey to healing takes an unexpected, inexplicable and amazing turn in a comforting way we had never imagined possible.