The Bottom Shelf Review

A grandfather in the timeframe

between winter to spring got sick.

It’s safe to say he didn’t make to summer.

He passed early in the morning

of his eldest’s grandchild’s

senior lacrosse night.

Before his passing he got to say goodbye,

to all his grandchildren one last time,

even his middle grandchild

who doesn’t know how to handle sick people.

She only came to visit him once.

I think they would both agree that

it was too hard to see the other in pain.

The grandfather’s pain of dying

as the clock slowly ticks to a stop

and the grandchild’s pain of realizing

that they have to say goodbye.

To the person that introduced

them to their favorite hobby.

They both have to say goodbye

to talking about books.

The mutual love of books created

the bond that has to end,

but not forgotten.

As it gets down to his final hours

his daughter in law who

sat by his side since the clock

started ticking to the end.

Asked him to give her sign

that he would be ok.

Only hours after his death

does she sit at her desk

and as she’s working a fly

Lands on her hand. It just sits

in the palm of her hand,

she takes it as the sign that he’s ok.

When she got home and was greeted

 by her heartbroken child,

she wasted no time telling them.

The story of the fly

Somehow the funny little

story of a fly

gave them hope that their

Grandfather was somehow

in some way watching over them