“See you tomorrow.”, on October 30th 2012 those became the last words I would ever say to my grandfather. On October 29th of that year, he gave me a film camera from his days in Japan in the 1950s. He told me we’d get together the next day and he’d show me the ropes with it. When that day came he felt down with “the crud”, as he used to call a cold or sniffle. As we talked on the phone that Tuesday he promised that tomorrow would be better and we could test it out before the neighborhood came around for Halloween. The phone call ended first with his “love you, see ya tomorrow” in his signature Texas drawl. Then I repeated it back, “love you too, see you tomorrow.”, before hanging up.
Little did I know that seeing him tomorrow would be a one sided affair. That phone call was our last conversation. It has been ten years since I’ve heard his voice. Ten years since he stretched his fingers out over my siblings’ and I’s heads and said “spider on your head”. Ten years since I’ve heard him sneeze into a handkerchief so loud the sound can still be heard travelling through space. Ten years since we’ve talked about feats in aviation, what I wanted to be when I grew up, The Twilight Zone, the Three Stooges, or who was destined to win our game of Monopoly.
It’s been ten years and I no less doubt his “see you tomorrow” today than I did on October 30th, 2012. Tomorrow may not have come on time like we’d expected but I know that it’s still out there. I know that wherever Heaven may be in or outside of the cosmos, that he is up there holding onto his promise. I know that even though it has been 3,653 days since last we spoke that there hasn’t been a day that he hasn’t been with me. The lessons he taught me, the experiences he shared, the life that he lived and gave, those are all a part of me. So while today is bittersweet, it is mostly a day to be thankful. Today and everyday I am thankful for the man that was and is Chuck Willis. I’m thankful that he got to be such an important part in my life and that God chose me to be his grandson.
So, thank you grandpa. Thank you for all that you are and all that your legacy means to me. Thank you, and I’ll see you tomorrow whenever it may come.
Collin Willis 