Happy Father’s Day Gramps

My Gramps was the one they broke the mold on, he was the calmest, help anyone in need, and family’s first type of man and he worked hard.

I was a previous drug addict, alcoholic, and an out-of-control teen when I went to live with my grandparents. Gramps was a year from retirement so he was about 62 years old, he looked forward to fishing and playing dominos every day. Now there’s a 14-year-old living with them, not something either of us expected.

They raised me with tough love, the Greatest Generation way. I had so many rules to follow and I did not want to disappoint my grandparents by breaking them.

I didn’t realize he was not my biological grandfather until about 8 or 9 years old. Granny and I were talking and I said why is Gramp’s name different than my father’s. I was crushed at first then realized how fortunate I was to have him in my life. He was the only father I had, my father created trauma in my life and I had little to do with him.

If only everyone had someone like my Gramps in their life.