Grandpa’s beach
Elizabeth December 26th, 2009
During our vacation earlier this month I took Tim to Shelly Beach. It’s a little spot in Caloundra, QLD, where I spent many happy hours as a kid. My grandparents lived two streets away from this beach for 30 years and our extended family usually congregated there a few times each year, for Christmas and other occasions.
My grandparents sold their beautiful little house 6 or 7 years ago and moved to Brisbane. The person who bought it rented it out to bogans who pulled out Grandpa’s roses and put a BBQ on the front porch. Driving past the house 10 days ago was really sad, and I’m not sure I’ll ever do that again.
Today is Boxing Day, and one year since we lost Grandpa to cancer.
I don’t know how to write about my Grandpa without writing you a novel. In his own quiet way, he taught me so much about the sort of person I want to be, and to be around. He will forever be the standard by which I compare all other people in my life, and the loss that I feel today doesn’t feel any less than it did one year ago.
You’d have loved my Grandpa.
Ten days ago I took the time to sit on the volcanic rocks at Shelly Beach and remember him. I looked around and pictured me and my cousins as kids, picking up hermit crabs and building sandcastles together. I thought about how lucky we were to have such an amazing playground in which to make these memories together.
Music is “Silent Sea” by KT Tunstall. Forgive my shaky iphone video…
It felt good to show this place to Tim.
The world lost one of its treasures 12 months ago, and I miss him more than I can say.
