5 Things I'd Say To My Grandpa If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away

5 Things I'd Say To My Grandpa If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away

You will always be my Pap-Pap.
Amanda Thompson
Amanda Thompson Mar 7, 2016
31339
views

When we are younger we don’t think much about losing a grandparent. We think we have time and that often leaves us forgetting to say the things that are in our heart. Years later and I still feel the ache of the absence of my grandfather and have many regrets of the things I had wished I had said.

1. I am proud to be your granddaughter

I am always told how lucky I am to have had a grandfather like you, and those who tell me that couldn’t be more right. I can’t help but feel so proud when people who worked alongside you, or friends who knew you the best tell me the heartfelt stories of the man you were and how proud he was of his family. You always were a hardworking man who always put his family first. You are my inspiration to work hard for the things I want in life and that is one of the many reasons you helped shape who I am today and I couldn’t be more grateful.

2. I actually didn’t mind the oldies music

As much as I’d beg you to turn the station or to change the CD, looking back some of those tunes were not that bad. Honestly I'd give anything to ride in your truck and listen to you hum along or watch you tap your thumbs on the steering wheel.

3. I miss you and I love you

I miss you and I love you more than anything. It is so easy to want to pick up the phone and call you when something major has happened or when my parents just don’t get how I feel. You will always hold a special place in my heart no matter what. The last few weeks you were here I will cherish for the rest of my life.

4. I’ll save you a seat

Words cannot express how I felt looking into the crowd at my high school graduation and not seeing you there smiling; it was a day we looked forward to. Words cannot express how I feel knowing that I won’t see you at my college graduation. You’d be so proud. Words cannot express how I feel knowing that I won’t see the tears in your eyes at my wedding or that when I start my own family I won’t see you walk through my hospital door. However, words can express the love that I feel knowing that you will be there in my heart and I promise I will save you a seat.

5. Most importantly, thank you

Thank you for the lessons along the way. Thank you for the stories of the good ‘ole days. I may have heard the stories a million times but I promise I heard every one. Thank you for spoiling me but also showing me what hard work can get me. Thank you for coming to my sport events, you were always my number 1 fan. And lastly thank you for the memories that I will have with me for the rest of my life, and the stories I will be able to tell my own children one day.

Cover Image Credit: Amanda Thompson
Amanda Thompson
Amanda Thompson Mar 7, 2016
At Clarion University

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The Thank You My Dad Deserves

While our moms are always the heroes, our dads deserve some credit, too.
Caity Callan
Caity Callan Feb 14, 2017
402246
views

Dear Dad,

You’ve gone a really long time without being thanked. I'm not talking about thanks for things like opening the Gatorade bottle I couldn't or checking my tires when my car’s maintenance light is flashing, but rather the thanks I owe you for shaping me into the person I am today.

Thank you for teaching me what I deserve and for not letting me settle for anything less.

While the whole world was telling me I wasn’t good enough, you were there to tell me I was. Whether this was with boys, a friend, or anything else, you always built my confidence to a place I couldn’t build it to on my own. You showed me what my great qualities were and helped me feel unique. But most of all, you never let me settle for anything less than what I deserved, even when I wanted to. Without you, I wouldn’t be nearly as ambitious, outgoing or strong.

Thank you for giving me someone to make proud.

It’s hard to work hard when it’s just for myself, but so easy when it’s for you. All through school, nothing made me happier than getting a good grade back because I knew I got to come home and tell you. With everything I do, you give me a purpose.

SEE ALSO: 20 Things You Say When Calling Your Dad On The Phone

Thank you for showing me what selflessness looks like.

You are the prime example of what putting your family first looks like. If me wanting something means that you can’t get what you want, you’ll always sacrifice. From wearing the same t-shirts you’ve had since I was in elementary school so I could buy the new clothes I wanted, to not going out with your friends so you could come to my shows, you never made a decision without your family at the forefront of your mind. If there is one quality you have that I look up to you for the most, it’s your ability to completely put your needs aside and focus entirely on the wants of others.

Thank you for being the voice in the back of my head that shows me wrong from right.

Even though many of your dad-isms like “always wear a seatbelt” easily get old, whenever I’m in a situation and can’t decide if what I’m doing is right or wrong, I always can hear you in the back of my head pointing me in the right direction. While I may not boost your ego often enough by telling you you’re always right, you are.

Thank you for being real with me when nobody else will.

Being your child hasn’t always been full of happiness and encouragement, but that’s what makes you such an integral part of my life. Rather than sugarcoating things and always telling me I was the perfect child, you called me out when I was wrong. But what separates you from other dads is that instead of just knocking me down, you helped me improve. You helped me figure out my faults and stood by me every step of the way as I worked to fix them.

Most of all, thank you for showing me what a great man looks like.

I know that marriage may seem very far down the road, but I just want you to know that whoever the guy I marry is, I know he’ll be right because I have an amazing guy to compare him to. I know you’re not perfect (nobody is), but you’ve raised me in a such a way that I couldn’t imagine my kids being raised any differently. Finding a guy with your heart, drive, and generosity will be tough, but I know it will be worth it.

Dad, you’re more than just my parent, but my best friend. You’re there for me like nobody else is and I couldn’t imagine being where I am now without you.

Love you forever,

Your little girl

Cover Image Credit: Caity Callan
Caity Callan
Caity Callan Feb 14, 2017
At University of Texas

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To The Girl Filled With Doubt, Stop Holding Yourself Back

Start living.

Sonya Ricker
Sonya Ricker Nov 14, 2018
1261
views

I know you've been waiting for ages with this knot in your stomach that just won't go away. Like an invisible weight, it slows you down. It holds you back. As the days go by it seems to just get heavier and heavier, and although you're smiling through it, I know you're wondering when you can just let this dead weight go.

I know this feeling all too well. To not want to try out for the team because you're scared of failure, to not want to throw a party because you're scared no one will show up, to not want to talk to the person you like because you're scared of rejection. It's difficult to deal with a voice in the back of your head telling you that you aren't enough, that you won't succeed, or that you don't matter.

At some point, you need to be brave enough to tell that voice to just shut up.

You're going to wake up one day with the realization that you've had enough- you're sick of dulling your light so others won't be blinded, you're tired of holding yourself back because you're unsure of what will come next. When that day comes- and believe me, it will- you will start to see everything fall into place.

It'll start off slow at first; maybe you'll finally apply that lipstick you were scared to wear out. Maybe you'll show up to a meeting for a club you've been interested in but were too nervous to go to before. Little by little, piece by piece, you will start to have the courage to do all the things you've always wanted but been too nervous to try. It might not happen today, or tomorrow, or even next week, but don't fret. All good things come in time. The universe knows when you're ready to blossom and it's a process that can't be rushed.

You are worth so much more than the doubts in your head tell you. You are great, you are strong, you are powerful- do not let the hurtful words of fleeting lovers or ex-friends make you doubt that for a second. I've been where you are standing now, I've walked in your shoes. It may seem like right now the worst thing that could happen to you is failure, but I assure you that's not true. Dealing with the regrets of never trying, the constant ponderings of 'what ifs' and 'could have beens' hurts so much worse and lasts so much longer.

Let that ball of doubt sink and drift away, let your anxieties roll off your shoulders. Go on: pick yourself up, tell that little voice who's boss, and watch yourself make progress, no matter how small it seems!

Sonya Ricker
Sonya Ricker Nov 14, 2018
At James Madison

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