Sometimes I wonder if I 
will live on after I die,
like my grandparents have.

That would be the 
greatest honour
to accomplish 
in one's journey. 

I often talked about
grandpa and grandma,
as if they are still alive.

They left such an impression
on my heart and soul,
two of my greatest teachers.

Grandpa was such a simple man,
he didn't need anything fancy,
he was very contented in his life.

I will always remember 
his saying,
"such a life, still we linger".

In fact it was his mother's saying,
then his while he was here,
and now it is mine.

Grandpa gave me so much 
of him to carry with me 
on my own journey.

Makes me smile when I reflect
on us in the little shack,
him talking about the old days,
his childhood, young adulthood.

Picking stones on the Island,
to heading North at a young age,
buying his older brother's farm,
and making a home from his hands.

So easily I can still see him,
as if death did not take
his body away.

Many times when I walk 
on the farm,
I wonder if I am stepping 
in his once foot steps.  

Life is so beautiful,
when you have a generation
or two before you,
that are so much apart
of your journey.

Sometimes I wonder if he 
ever wondered what 
legacy he will leave
behind when he dies.

Such an inspiration he was to me 
he was my first and second poem,
after his death he became one
of my inspirations for my website.

His long ago stories,
was my reason for
searching my family roots,
and bringing those folks
together in celebration of 
this Old Hopkins Family Tree.

I thought my final 
"thank you" to him
was the book I wrote
with seven years of 
family research.

But it seems my heart
needs to dedicate
every undertaking I do
to them.

I receive a lot 
of compliments
on my personality, 
I'm always quick to reply, 
"I had some pretty special
people in life to help shape
who I am today."

The greatest honour I had
was being with grandpa 
when he took his last breath.

It was so important to me
to walk with him as far as I can
before he continued on his own.

I will always remember 
just before his last breath,
two tears escaped 
one from each eye.

I often wondered,
if those two tears
were his goodbye,
for no words did he speak.

Try as I might,
I can never give words
to describe the feeling
in his room after he died.

It was at that moment
my fear of death died,
Grandpa gave me that one
last lesson ... last gift.