Grandpas Ashes by Terry Lerdall-Fitterer - Children's Stories Net
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When I was very little girl I loved to visit my grandpa. We'd go fishing down by the river, catch frogs, climb trees, and mostly just spend the day keeping out of grandma's hair. In the afternoons we'd make ice cream on the front porch, and with grandpa sitting in his rocker, we'd sing silly songs until I had to go to bed. One day, when I was about six years old, I went to visit and grandma told me that grandpa wasn't there anymore. He had gone away she said. I asked her where and she answered plain and simple, with a tear in her eye, "He went to visit God in Heaven." I asked her how soon he'd be back and she told me that it was such a beautiful place to visit he had decided to live there forever. I cried and I cried because suddenly I felt all alone. I would never see him again or hear the way he laughed when I'd forgotten to shut the chicken coop door and the rooster would chase me all over the yard as I ran for the house screaming my head off. I guess I will always remember the day she told me he'd gone away. It hadn't been too long after when grandma moved in with us. One night when I couldn't get to sleep, she sat down on my bed and told me something that made me feel better about losing grandpa. She said that he really wasn't gone because she had kept his ashes in a small wooden box that sat on the dresser in her bedroom, and that I could talk to him anytime I wanted to. I was confused but happy at the same time. It was like grandpa was still here, I just couldn't SEE him. She even said that if it made me feel better I could keep the box on my nightstand and talk to him any time of the day or night if I needed to tell him something. It was a grand day indeed when the shiny wooden box came to live in my room. I even had a tea party for all my dolls and served peanut butter cookies, grandpa's favorite. We all sat around and talked about how grandpa and I had found a beautiful hill one summer day that was filled from top to bottom with pretty yellow daisies. We couldn't see anything for miles except yellow flowers. We called it our hideaway and grandma would fix us lunch and we'd go sit right on the ground and eat chicken sandwiches hidden away from the world by the endless yellow color. One day I was sitting on my bed doing my spelling homework and I heard a strange noise. I looked around and there was my cat, Blue, batting grandpa's box around. For fear of it falling I yelled, "Blue and Grandpa, NOT today, go find somewhere else to play!" The cat darted out of the room and I put grandpa's box back where it belonged, not without what I thought was a tiny giggle coming out of it! About a week went by and I noticed the butterflies were multiplying so I asked grandma if I was very, very careful, could I take grandpa out to the fields to see the fresh crop of butterflies in all their pretty colors? She strapped a backpack on me and told me to be very careful and not to drop anything, then added, "I think grandpa would like that." Grandpa, the cat, and I all sat in the big field watching the butterflies fluttering back and forth. I could feel that grandpa wanted a better view but insisted, "Grandpa, Grandpa not today, you might up and fly away!" That summer I took grandpa everywhere, much to grandma's chagrin, although she knew how much we meant to each other and figured I would soon outgrow it. It was a closeness I hadn't felt before; somehow we seemed to meld together on our outings. I caught a frog down by the river one day and the darn thing kept slipping out of my hand. This happened over and over so many times that I was growing disgusted with myself and I swear I heard grandpa's hearty laugh coming from my back pack, which made me even more mad. "Grandpa, Grandpa, not today or I'll let you swim away!" That winter was a cold one, it seemed as though the snow would never stop. Remembering how grandpa and I used to build the biggest snowman around I decided to forge ahead and keep the tradition. He was a mighty snowman alright, coals for buttons and eyes and grandpa's old straw hat to top it off. Although I thought I heard a whisper from up in my bedroom about forgetting the carrot nose. Grandpa never missed a trick, I couldn't help but think that he would've liked me to name it after him but like I softly told him, "Grandpa, grandpa not today, I can't have you melt away." Christmas came and passed, spring was starting to poke its head out of the ground. The crocus patch grandpa and I planted was bigger and more colorful than ever. Grandpa and grandma had always lived just down the road from us, so whenever I'd like something they grew in their yard, grandpa would gladly saunter down the road and help me with the seeds and the watering. I would jump for joy when it would turn out to look just like theirs. With the passing of time and my 10th birthday on its way, I was pretty much aware of what all the 'ashes to ashes', 'dust to dust' business was all about. I got thinking that with grandpa's great love of the outdoors, it was a shame to keep him captured inside that pretty wooden box for eternity. I sat down with grandma and we came up with a wonderful solution. That summer grandma, grandpa, the cat, and I headed for the great yellow daisy hill. I swear I heard a faint sigh of relief as we slowly cracked open the lid. It was a perfect breezy day. We all bid him farewell with tears in our eyes and smiles on our faces. I threw open the lid and with a hearty, "Grandpa, grandpa TODAY'S the day I want you to blow away!" He did, and as the tiny ashes lit upon the yellow sunflowers they looked like glitter shining in the sun. If you enjoyed this story, there are many more in our collection, to register for more Free Stories please click below or click the Free Story Access button top left on this page. Click Here to Register for more Free Stories. Story Rating 
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