i'm on my way home from Marin, earlier than expected, and with a bullet.
see, my grandfather passed away on Saturday morning. it wasn't unexpected, as he'd suffered a major heart attack a week earlier and had been in intensive care ever since.
so, i'm racing home in order to turn around and fly to NC in time for his funeral.
he had a good life, and was doing something he loves at the time of his heart attack -- he, my grandmother and aunt had driven to Colorado for a Marine Corps reunion. he always loved driving across the country -- i think he'd done so somewhere around 40 times -- and the reunions seemed very important to him, particularly in his later years, as the numbers of his surviving servicemates dwindled.
for these reasons, it's hard for me to feel bad about this.
we weren't particularly close for most of my adult life, but i was very close to him when i was growing up. despite the space between us in recent years, i know he loved me. i'm pretty sure he knew i loved him too.
'bye, grandaddy. i'll miss you.