A Celebration of Life
Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. Not only do the trees now sparkle with red, orange, and yellow leaves, but someone very special to me happened to be born in September.
Everyone has that special person in their life. Whether it’s a grandparent, parent, friend, teacher, sibling, etc., having that bond is such a blessing. Unfortunately, when that person is no longer around, it’s incredibly tough. One thing to keep in mind though, always continue to celebrate that special bond.
In honor of his birthday yesterday (Sept 22), I’m going to share a little bit about my special person.
ALLEN JOHNSON, GRANDPA
My grandpa was a legend. He was the type of person that everyone always wanted to be around, everyone sought out for advice, comfort, a laugh, he was a fighter, and an extremely talented musician.
Over the course of his life, he was a musician which transitioned to becoming a band director at Brookfield Central High School, a brilliant designer, builder, + owner of Johnson & Sons builders, a loving father + grandfather, and man who fought throat cancer without ever smoking a day in his life. If only, one day, I can be half of the person he was. I couldn’t be prouder to be his granddaughter.
ME + GRANDPA
He taught me SO many things in the short period of time he was physically in my life. At age 5, I was already playing the violin. He was there to teach me everything about music up until I was able to teach others. At my 3rd grade talent show, I played + taught the basics about violin. A couple years later, at age 12, I picked up the trumpet. What was special about this brass instrument was that I used my grandpa’s actual trumpet from his days being in a band.
I’ve heard countless stories from him + my grandma over the years about how talented he was. His primary instrument, the saxophone, was glued to him every Friday + Saturday night at various bars + restaurants around Milwaukee. He lived his dream and it’s made me realize with how badly I want to complete mine.
APPRECIATE YOUR BOND
Our bond was nothing like I’ve ever had before. He would take my brothers’ + I to Home Depot every Sunday to build, take us to the pumpkin patch, attend every sporting event, Christmas concert, school function, you name it, I could always count on him to be there. He was a role model, support system, father figure, and an amazing teacher. If you have or had someone like this in your life, I hope you tell them how much you appreciate them.
At age 14, I lost him. It was incredibly difficult for me + my family. He was the glue that kept us together. But as always, timing sucks. I often wonder how different life would have been if he’d still be here, but I’m grateful for all the time I got.
Moral of the story, tell those in your life that you love them, that you’re thinking of them, that you’re sorry for whatever happened, that you’re going to make more of an effort, whatever it is. Life is too short to waste another second.
Happy 89th Birthday Grandpy! I love + miss you everyday. Celebrate harder than you ever have before! I can wait until we can be together again :)
Love, Jordan