Day 10: Frank Buswell

American Idol's Pia has me thinking about my grandfather, so he's my Lent blog post for today...

I never got to meet my grandfather on my dad’s side, so Grampa was all I had. Anyone will tell you that when I was a little girl, I was THE grandchild for him. We had a very special relationship. He lived in Arlington, and we only saw him a couple of times a year. But I looked forward to them more than anything. I never felt as loved as I did when my grandfather was over. We were pen pals when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, we mailed cards and letters to each other. My favorite one was a card with a joke on it, and I never got it when I was a kid, it didn’t make sense. I never asked anyone, though, and I had saved them in a box. I found them when moving to Allen a few years ago, and I remember laughing when I came across that card in particular, because I finally got it…it went like this: “Do you know the difference between toilet paper and the shower curtain?” You open the card and it says: “Aha!! So YOU’RE the one!” Haha…love it. My grandfather was wonderful, and I wish I could’ve spent more time with him. He died while I was working at Blockbuster, when I was around 20. When I was little I always thought that as soon as I got a car I’d go see him more often. But school and work happened, and I never did that…which I regret. The last time I saw him he was in the hospital, and he didn’t recognize me, and after everything that had happened in our history that crushed me. My mother went up to see him several more times after that, but I couldn’t bear to go back and see him like that. I choose to keep my memory of him as it was when I was little.

He loved to tease people, and I didn’t escape that just because I was a kid. When I was in preschool, I apparently came home upset one day and he was there and I was explaining that I’d gone down the slide and a boy had seen my purple Minnie Mouse underwear. There was hardly a time in my life when I’d see him after that when he wouldn’t look at me and go, “So, Jamie, have you showed your underwear to any boys lately?” It always made me laugh…I miss him. So much. I have a picture of him holding me on his lap when I was a kid, and it’s framed in my living room.

Grampa, I love and miss you so much. You may not have been a perfect man, but you were a wonderful grandfather and visits from you made my year. I never told you how much the cards and the underwear joke and all of it meant to me, but hopefully you knew. Thanks for making me feel so special and loved!