My Grandpa

My Grandpa Meyer passed away 18 years ago today. After the death of my own father of course, this is the loss that still hurts the most. As the first born grandchild, I was the apple of my grandpa's eye and we shared a very special bond. While I cherish that bond even to this day, I must admit that I was the favorite grandchild and my grandparents made no effort to hide it. Straight up I will say this was wrong. I remember feeling uncomfortable at times when I was given preferential treatment. As a child I wasn't really sure what to do about it, so it just went on for as long as they lived. All that aside, my relationship with my grandpa was special for a lot of reasons. We shared the same personality traits and seemed to know what the other was thinking without even speaking. We spent many hours together just talking and being together and loving being in the presence of the other. As I grew older I realized what great pride grandpa took in the Meyer family name. When I was old enough to understand, he stressed how important it was to carry on the family name. Obviously I couldn't control the gender of my future children, but I understood where he was coming from. On October 20, 1993, my son Michael Christian Meyer was born. The moment he entered the world I sobbed with joy. Yes, because my wife had just given birth to our child, but more because I knew I had the boy my grandpa wanted in order to carry on the family name. I knew he would be so happy! And he was... I think he loved Michael even more than he loved me (and I wasn't sure that was possible). Michael Christian is a name that carries a long history in the Meyer family. Here's the family tree:

Christian Michael Meyer (my great great grandpa)
Michael George Meyer (my great grandpa)
George Michael Meyer Sr. (my grandpa)
George Michael Meyer Jr. (my dad)
Michael Richard Meyer (me)
Michael Christian Meyer (my son)

As you can see, my son's name goes back 5 generations. Grandpa asked that I carry on the family name. Mission accomplished.

Anyway, I mentioned how happy my grandpa was to have a great grandson. Things were wonderful except during the first year of Michael's life, grandpa began to experience major health problems. Life threatening health problems. In September of 1994, things began to look very bleak. Grandpa was slipping fast. It was going to be a close call to see if grandpa would live to see Michael's 1st birthday. Grandma told me he said he didn't care how sick he was, he was going to attend Michael's birthday party. He didn't make it. Grandpa died on October 9th, 1994. Michael had his first birthday on the 20th.

Michael turns 19 this year and grandpa has been gone for 18 years. I always get sad as October comes around, but later in the month get to rejoice in celebrating my son. From the lowest of points to the highest of points in a matter of 11 days.

I know grandpa would have been proud of me and my family. I wish he could have lived to see more of my adult life, but that was not in God's plan. What was in God's plan was the 27 years I got to spend with my grandpa. I really miss him.