I have SINGING SOCKS!

The picture above is of my Grandpa Garcia- my mom's dad. He passed away on Saturday morning while I was in the middle of moving apartments. I got a call from my stepdad (that I missed) and a text from my mom (which I also missed) that said to call Bob- my stepdad. When I finally got around to checking my phone, I knew exactly what had happened.

Grandpa was on dialysis for 5 years. Cancer had taken both of his kidneys. The first one in the early nineties and then the second one in 2005- my junior year of college. He was able to pass on peacefully and for that I am immensely glad.

It's been a wild new year for me. Over the Christmas holiday, my mom called to tell me that there was a possibility that they would discontinue dialysis and put Grandpa in hospice. I was devastated and VERY emotional. His health had been poor for years, but the thought of losing him was painful. Since the beginning of the new year, his already poor health declined quickly until his passing on the 29th of January.

Of all my grandpas (and I have four!), I was easily closest to Grandpa Garcia. When I would go visit them in Beaumont, my Grandma would always send the Grandpa and I out and about. We would go bowling, see movies, eat fun and delicious foods, and always always ALWAYS talk about his travels.

He worked for the government and got to live and travel to all sorts of interesting places. And he always had a story to tell.

Some of my favorite things/stories/tales about Grandpa are:

-He once told my mom over dinner (when she asked about his government job), "If I told you, I would have to kill you." And he was completely serious!

-When my grandparents lived in Saudi Arabia, they had to buy their Christmas tree off the black market! And their Christmas tapes, too. They did so, willingly, because they would have a Christmas party, every year for the troops. This was during the gulf war.

-He always told me that if he could, he would love to take me to Europe. That of all the grandchildren, I would be the one that would love and appreciate it the most.

-The last time I saw him (about two weeks ago), he was laying in the hospital bed and wasn't very lucid. But at one point he looked up at me, recognized me, and then looked across the room at Patrick and (while pointing at Patrick) said, "He doesn't like you," with a silly/sarcastic grin on his face. Then he laughed at his little joke while I turned BRIGHT red.

-During that same visit as I was telling him goodbye, he said, "You look really happy."

-He's the one who taught me how to bowl.

-I could point at any picture and/or any artifact in his house and he could always tell me in detail what it was and where it was from and the story behind it.

-He loved COPS. Every time I hear the theme music from that show, I think of him.

-He was PURE Mexican. And would eat menudo whenever we would go out to eat authentic Mexican food. I have many memories of him sitting across from me and sucking on a pig's foot while I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

-Was SO photogenic- I mean look at that picture above! What a handsome man!

-Always nurtured my love of the arts and of theatre. He truly believed me to be a star and encouraged me to follow my passions. I loved to go to see plays with him at Beaumont's tiny little community theatre. It was always a pleasure.

-Because he retained so much of his hair (lucky guy never went bald!), I have always thought he looked a little like a Hispanic Dick Van Dyke.

-Speaking of Dick Van Dyke, I can remember watching countless episodes of The Dick Van Dyke show, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and All in the Family with him. It was because of my knowledge of All in the Family that I got (at least) one question right on my AP US History test in college.

-And one of my favorites (and the title of my post): when I was in high school, I woke up on Christmas morning to Grandpa- giddy as a school boy, dancing around in tall Christmas socks. He reached down to one of them, pushed a button and music started, "Lauren!" he said, laughing, "I have SINGING SOCKS!"