Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a time to recognize those that we love, especially those who have helped to shape our lives.  My Grandpa Briggle was a WWII vet, but I never really had a chance to get to know too much about his experiences in the Navy.  What I do know, though, is that he was a loving and caring Grandpa. 

My favorite memory of him was when I was in high school.  I was driving home and the roads were really slick.  I was scared, very scared!  Instead of attempting to go up a rather large hill on the icy roads, I decided to make a turn and go visit my grandparents instead.  When I drove up, Grandpa was standing there waiting for me.  Now that I look back, I'm sure he was just going out to the chickens to make sure everything was running ok.  But, there he was at the end of their very long driveway and he didn't even seemed surprise to see me. 

I got out of the car and I'm sure I was shaking and in tears.  Grandpa didn't even ask what had happened, just told me how happy he was to see me and told me to go inside to get warm.  Grandma had the coffee on!  Then he turned slowly, looked at my front bumper, and removed a small dead bird that was stuck in it.  All he said was that he didn't want me to continue to drive around with that on my bumper - it wasn't good luck.  In Grandpa's quiet and loving way, he was taking care of me.  I miss him and think of him often.  In fact, there are some days that I imagine he is here with me right now, serving as my guardian angel.  I feel very lucky to have had the chance to get to know him.