Good-night! Good-night! As we so oft have said
Beneath this roof at midnight, in the days
That are no more, and shall no more return.
Thou hast but taken up thy lamp and gone to bed;
I stay a little longer, as one stays
To cover up the embers that still burn.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We often forget how precious life is until we are forced to stare down at a loved one who just passed. Murmuring to each other how good they look considering as we all cry on each others shoulders. Spending hours reminiscing about individual and family memories while skimming through old photo albums.

While they are alive we take for granted who truly valuable they are as a person. Grandparents are just old wrinkly people who gave birth to our parents, who when they are older repeat the same story over and over every time we come over.

What we don't realize is the uniqueness of their history.

Who were they as a person, not as our grandparent? Who were their parents, and their parents parents and what were they like? What was the true meaning behind the stories that they proudly told over and over hoping that just one time we would be listening with open ears and an open heart. These are all keys to understanding the magnitude of human life, and it's bigger picture.

My grandpa was the last of my dad's parents to pass, and it's left me feeling like we are facing the end of an era. No one's left to pass on stories which form into their legacies. No one's left to live in the house he built up north for grandma, which has become the house that he built for them to die in.

During the week everyone's been sifting through belongings in hopes to take home a piece of them, but what struck me the most is how much I really didn't know my grandparents as much as I would have liked to. Looking through the photo albums I saw a side of them that amazes me. Young love. Building a family. History in the making. Things that seem insignificant to us right now, will be history in 40-50 years.

If I could say one last thing to him before he died I would have sat in front of him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him I was listening.