There are some people who come into your life and change it forever, and no matter what you can’t go back. There’s that one friend that teaches you what being a real friend means, your first relationship teaches what it actually takes to make a relationship work, and those one people who can teach you to always have fun no matter what. That was my grandpa, he could have fun and laugh no matter what the situation was, and he was the one who taught me how to.

Even though my grandpa passed away about 4 years ago now I still remember everything about him. He was always a fun person and looked for new adventures. Together, me and him would always go out and look for new small local diners together. Every other weekend we would go to a different one. Even when the places were really bad, he still had a good time and laughed and joked. He made friends at every diner we ate together at. Sometimes the really good ones, we’d go back and the waitress would laugh and joke with him as they took our orders. I’ve always looked up to my grandpa and how he had a way with people, and making everyone in a room laugh.

He could always make me smile, no matter what the situation was. I could be feeling really down about something and he would go out of his way to make sure I felt better. Sometimes it was turning on the cooking channel and then trying to make the foods, or other times it was just a drive on the passenger seat of his truck. Even though a drive may seem like nothing to most people to us it was special, maybe because I was the one who helped chose the truck, or because sitting in the passenger seat made me feel like a grown up and he knew I loved that. But he would always make me smile, and he made sure I always knew how proud he was of me.

The last few months were the worst. He had to stay in the hospital all the time. Most of the time he wasn’t really there, he slept, for long hours at a time. But when he did wake up he would joke around about how much he hated hospitals. So while we sit in a plain white hospital room we always waited for the moments when he would wake up, because he was the one that could always ease the tension. Even though he was very sick, he still could make everyone’s face in a room light up. And that’s what I always admired most.


Cancer took my grandpas life, and for me it was like losing a best friend. Time passed on but still till this day I remember my grandpa and how peoples face lit up when he walked in. I still look up to him even though he isn’t here now. I strive to be upbeat and positive even in the worst situations. I fail though now and again, but I know my grandpa would be proud of me just for trying. So during times of turmoil, I try my best to stay positive. I remember my grandpa each and every day. Whenever someone calls me Gabrielle instead of Gabby, I think of him. He thought Gabrielle was way to pretty of a name not to be used. Every time I pass a ford dealership, or when a see a red truck, or when I watch the cooking channel I think of my grandpa. I’ll always remember him, and when I’m a grandparent, I’ll take my grandkids to small local diners and hopefully light up a room one day.