"You've always been with Mom and me," John continued. "And it just doesn't seem fair you have to stay behind. You've just got to come with us, Grandpa."
If John hadn't been choking on peanut butter and jelly
sandwich, his torrent of pent up words and feelings might never have stopped.
As it was, he took a big gulp of soda and looked pleadingly at his grandfather,
who had been listening to him with something between a grin and a grimace
on his concerned face.
Grandpa George leaned over and placed his hands on John's shoulders,
pausing a moment before he spoke to take a deep breath of the sea
air, and to look at the pale ghost of a moon that hung over John's left
shoulder like a celestial guardian.
"John, you are, and will always be my boy. It
doesn't matter that I'm your mother's father and your grandfather. You
and I will always be tied together in a special way, sort of like how the
Earth and the Moon are connected by the force of gravity.
It's a different kind of gravity that connects us, as you and I are tied by the
love and respect we have for one another. It was the same between you and your Pop
and it's how it is with you and your Mom now.
"Another thing that connects us, John, is the love and respect we share for this
Earth."
George felt his own throat tightening and quickly
washed down his rising emotion with a swallow of soda, then continued.
"There are reasons, son, good and important
reasons why you and your Mom must go tomorrow, and why I have to stay
behind."