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Yesterday afternoon, my father called with the sad news that my grandfather had passed away earlier in the day. My grandfather, William J. Thomas, was a great man.  Father of two, grandfather of three, and a loving husband to my late grandmother.  I may not have told him this as often as I wished, but he was most certainly loved by me.

He and my grandmother played a vital role in where I am today.  Those of you who are close to me know how much I cared for them.  They helped me with college and graduate school, and they were the stability that I needed during that time when other members of my family were losing their way.  My grandparents, in a sense, lived vicariously through me while I was in college.  They went to my freshmen orientation.  They drove me to and from Boston at the beginning and end of the school year.  They even visited me when I was in Oxford, England.  They helped me many times through the years and as a young adult.  In effect, my grandparents were my surrogate parents.  Regardless of where I go in life, I will be forever repaying the enormous debt I owe them.

It is with a heavy heart that I mourn his loss, yet at the same time I know he is in a better place.  While I am by no means religious–something that both he and my grandmother would not want to hear–I do know that wherever he may be he is reunited with my grandmother.  While his passing is quite untimely, I know that he will no longer suffer through the tortured agony that would have played out in the coming months.  While deeply saddened, I know that it would have been extremely painful to watch.  To paraphrase Dickens, I know it is a far better rest that he goes to now.

I will cherish the fond memories of the great man that was my grandfather.  I will miss the memory of him reading the newspaper in the morning while drinking his coffee.  I will miss looking at the paper and seeing the crossword almost done.  I will miss seeing him sitting in his recliner watching television. I will miss calling him “Pop-Pop” from my much younger years.

I will miss him greatly, but at the same time I cannot anguish over his loss.  Thus, I will celebrate his life.  I raised a glass last night in his honor, surrounded by friends.  I cannot think of a better way to remember him–being with the people who care about me and, in some cases, know my grandfather.

So long, Pop-Pop.