Driving

Today, as I was driving home from work, I took a couple of moments to visit an old family member I hadn't visited in almost 10 Years. I know, that's quite some time! And I must say I pass his current home almost everyday on my way home, for it is just to the left side of me, just one U-Turn away. Now Im sure your asking yourself " Why ha vent I visited him earlier?" or" Why visit at all". And the truth is I was scared, or more like I was'nt sure what I would feel if I went to visit. He is in an earth of silence and stone. He can no longer speak, hear, see, nor taste. He is lying all day long in a stone home, under the ground. Surrounded by others jailed in the cold silent stone. No longer does he see the sun in the morning or hear the kids laugh at the park. I was scared that I would myself fear for the time when his current abode would become mine. I was afraid that I may have an empowerment of feelings and burst out in tears. I was afraid that by seeing all that is surrounding him that I myself would become depressed. As I drove into the gates, all rusted and silent with no wind, my car went from the normalcy of the road to a half paved road. I drove half-way into the graveyard, passing veterans, mothers, fathers, children who died to soon. I passed trees that overshadowed graves and empty plots. I stopped my car midway where the paved road became no more. I left the car on for I was only going to be a couple of minutes, walking past tombs trying not to step on what I had believed to be bodies six feet under. An on approaching the grave I had feared on seeing, I noticed that there was nothing to fear. He had a loving family, for they had made sure to keep his space neat. There was a bench that they placed next to him under a small tree for shade. I sat down, read the tombstone and began to feel happy. Now don't get me wrong, I missed my grandfather, he was an OK man from the little that I remember. Kind yet stick to the grandchildren and loyal to his wife to the day he died. I remember the day he died I had taken my cousin who was raised by him and my grandmother to the movies just before to get her out the house from which hes was bedridden. Upon returning we heard the weeping and knew that he was very near to the end. A couple of moments later he was gone. I will say though that that man could not have had more people who loved and respected him, fore the whole house was filled with his children and there children and friends who wanted to be there to say goodbye for one last time. As I got up from the bench in the wary graveyard I realized that what I had considered to be a horrid place to be, even if just to visit, was a good place. It held something that you cant find in any store. Peace and forgiveness. The cold stone that lay on top of the grass was evidence of those that were loved, those who now lye in peace, in silence. They unlike us living can rest with no worries. I was glad that I had taken that one little U-Turn today. By taking that turn and visiting that long awaited family member, my grandfather, I was able to live in his world for a couple of moments. Silence and peace. Good bye Apa, Good Bye.