For anyone who has not had the experience of driving through the Commonwealth of Virginia, let me warn you that the state is basically one big speed trap. This became abundantly clear to me as I was driving home this past weekend. I live in New Jersey, and unfortunately I need to drive through Virginia to make it home in a reasonable amount of time. During my ride home I saw enough cops clocking people to fill three lifetimes.As I was driving up I-95 through Virginia my mind was going a mile a minute, filled with thoughts of home and speed traps. I was thinking a lot about my grandfather because he was the reason I was going home. I have known my grandfather for 20 years and I was thinking about my earliest and latest memories of him.
The more I began to think and as I got deeper into my drive home, past memories rushed into my head. I had forgotten that it was grandfather who helped me learn how to ride a bike. As the highway signs for Norfolk, Richmond, and Petersburg flashed by on the road, I realize that I have gone from my grandfather helping me ride a bike to now driving in my grandfathers old car.
More memories rush in my head as I pass the phallic cigarette sticking out from the ground in front of the Phillip Morris building. Whenever there was a major, or not so major, family gathering, my grandfather was always there. I remember him being there at my middle school graduation and then five years later at my high school graduation. From my Bar Mitzvah to my sporting events, my grandfather was always there.
I am passing through Maryland now, not as bad as Virginia, however their toll and tunnel systems still leave much to be desired. I remember a time when I was visiting my grandparents in Florida and we went to see a spring training baseball game. We saw the Baltimore Orioles play the Yankees, I believe, and it was just a regular night at the ballpark. It was an evening full of hot dogs, cotton candy, and begging the players for autographs.
Maryland always takes longer than I imagine for a state its size, but now I am in Delaware. I blink and realize that I am now in New Jersey. I do not think about my grandfather in Delaware.
I am home now in New Jersey. I will be home for a little more than 48 hours, but there is much to be done. My grandfather passed away on April 3, and tonight is the viewing. He had been sick for a long time with cancer that was eating away at the inside of his body.
It is now 7:30 and we arrive at the funeral home to see my grandfather. Most of my family is already there and there is sadness in the air. I go into the room where my grandfather is and it is hard to see him right away; too many people are blocking the casket. I move towards the front of the room and there he is.
He looks peaceful, just lying there. Hands crossed at his waist, glass over his face. As I stand over my grandfather in his casket, I expect him to jump out of the casket. For a man who 12 months ago was so full of life, it is hard to imagine him now dead, lifeless, lying motionless in his eternal rest.
The viewing was last night, but now today is the funeral. As I walk into that same room that is the temporary abode of my grandfather, I look at him; he looks just like he did last night. I feel an eerie calm come over my body. The funeral service itself feels like a blur now. It feels like it never happened, maybe I have just convinced myself that it never did.
The funeral is over and so is the reception afterward. It is time now to head back to Greensboro. Time to go back through Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Back into my grandfather’s car for one more ride, one more tank of gas, and many more memories. I miss my grandfather very much.