Grampa's Last Laugh

"Did you see the lake today?"

Every time we get to Grand Haven, Michigan, those words come back to me.

Grand Haven is where my Grandparents lived. If we were in town, it was probably Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. 

Grampa loved Lake Michigan. On weekdays he'd leave the Sunday-driving land-yacht Mercury in the garage, and take his Chevy Vega wagon down to the waterfront.

He wasn't a fisherman. He didn't own a boat. He just liked to look at the water.

And have a smoke.

He was the only grandparent that smoked, and after stealing one of the peppermints he carried to cover the smell on his breath, we'd tease him mercilessly about it. He was of shorter stature than the rest of the family so we'd tell him the cigarrettes had stunted his growth.

But he had the last laugh.

He outlived all the other grandparents.

During his final days, we always made sure to drive past the waterfront on our way to visit him in the nursing home.

So we could answer, yes, we'd seen the lake today.

And it was beautiful.