Rain(e)

I didn't really know my grandfather. My dad's dad and my Bachan had a bitter divorce when dad was 5 years old. We couldn't talk about him and whenever his name came up, I would only hear things about how drunk he was all the time. Yes, he was an alcoholic. But he's still my grandfather. My cousins call him "Grandpop" so I'm trying to get that nickname down. My aunty Nancy (Dad's stepsister) and I are friends on Facebook. Here is a post she recently did:

Fourteen years ago today, Dad went to the liquor store for the last time, only not to buy alcohol, but to buy a candy bar after being sober for 30days. He got killed leaving the liquor store, walking across the street to catch the bus home. RIP, DAD, Love you. ♥

It brought a different light of him to me. So I wrote to her and asked if she could share some more memories. Since I don't really have any, I wanted to borrow some. She wrote,

Nancy Angelastro October 28 at 2:10pm
Hi Michi,

Immediately 2 things come to mind, which I will tell you and more later as Im in a hurry to go and help someone. The first is, when I would just finish giving the kids a bath, he would say, " look at them!! Aren't they beautiful!! They're shiney just like a new penny!!!" I always loved that!!! He loved his grandchildren sooo much!! Another thing was, he was a stickler for honesty. He hated dishonesty or seeing anyone being taken, or cheated, and one other thing, he was theeee most charitable person I had ever known. Dad would take homeless people off the street, feed them, clothe them, let them use his shower or whatever they needed and even took them in at times. Grandpop was an awsome man. I remember getting a call at work one day from the police, telling me they had Dad in custody, he hadn't done anything wrong, he was just standing in a crowd of people giving all of his money away and they were afraid for him, and that he would have nothing left to live on. He would do some crazy things, but that was Dad!!! He gave us many stories to tell!! Love you, Michi!!! Thank you for asking and having me take the time to sit and reflect. I will gladly tell you more. I can tell you something else, too, he was so very proud of you, and absolutely loved your pictures. He used to say, She's as beautiful as Rain. He would use rain as a symbol of beauty when he thought something was just so beautiful. I think it's so ironic that people call you Rain, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw that on FB. Gotta go for now. Love you!!

I love this :0)