My Grandpa Like Peanuts (standard:drama, 705 words)
Author: Daisyeyes	Added: Oct 20 2001	Views/Reads: 3400/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A memory of my grandfather before and he passed away. This was written both before and after his death. Feedback much appreciated!

“My Grandpa Likes Peanuts” 

I see him resting quietly in his overstuffed corduroy armchair,
listening to his Walkman.  The sound of his breath machine hums loudly. 
 The blank computer screen stares vacantly back at the empty room.  He 
stands up slowly, wincing at his aching muscles.  My eyes can’t help 
but stare at his sagging flesh and sunken cheeks. He’s losing more 
weight.  The pants that clothe him appear two sizes too large; his 
button-down, old-fashioned, striped shirt opens coolly at the neck, 
exposing his starched white undershirt.  The suede brown slippers on 
his feet make clomping sounds on the floor as he walks. He carefully 
inches his way with his walker into the kitchen, his life trailing 
behind him in a clear plastic tube; air bubbles are his fuel.  I notice 
that his glasses are taped on the left side, holding the lens to the 
earpiece.  I think to myself about how old those glasses are.  For 
years he’s had the same frames.  He gradually sits down on the sanded, 
wooden, kitchen chair, sighing with a gust of exhaustion.  I sit down 
directly across from him, not yet able to comprehend how special the 
moment would be.  My lips separate, revealing my expensive smile; 
braces do wonders.  My mouth begins to move, but my meaningless words 
hide underneath my tongue, falling into the pit of my stomach where 
they form into mounds.  He looks back at me with love-filled eyes, lids 
sagging over his black pupils.  The words that leave his lips are few, 
but they are made into beautiful musical notes, harmonizing into 
masterpieces.  His words touch my heart with an impact that I will 
never forget. 

He picks up the cylinder of bran cereal, and begins to pour the flakes
into his white ceramic bowl with the green flowered pattern at the rim. 
 He lifts up the 2-liter carton of whole milk and opens the spout.  The 
white cream drips out into the bowl, soaking the cereal.  His shaky 
hands spill some of the milk onto the vinyl tablecloth. A tiny laugh 
escapes my throat as I reach over to wipe it up with a paper napkin 
that reads, “Home is Where the Heart is”.  A warm word of thanks 
replies the friendly silence that doesn’t feel odd.  He picks up the 
canister of Planter’s salted peanuts, and sprinkles the fattened 
pellets onto the surface of his breakfast.  He’s trying to gain weight 
in any way possible.  He glances over at my frantic grandmother and 
whispers words so lovely, “I love you Alice.” 

A tear trickles from my grandmother’s eye, and down her flushed cheek. 
She lives each day to hear those three little words.  She walks over to 
him and places a small kiss on his aged lips.  She hands him a 
Tupperware glass filled to the rim with an orange liquid.  In her other 
hand she reveals, as if by magic, four plumply colored pills.  He 
removes them from her wrinkled hand, and tosses them into his throat, 
washing them down with a gulp of juice.  He looks at the floor now as 
he clasps his fingers together in prayer.  Childishly, I bow in sync, 
my eyes peeking open at odd moments to admire my date.  He looks up at 
me, then at his spoon.  He removes it from its comfort spot on the 
tabletop and forces it through the brown blanket of food.  Raising his 
hand to his opened mouth, he dumps the filaments onto his tongue.  The 
spoon travels back to the bowl as his teeth chomp down on the objects 
of his wonder.  I can hear the crunching of him chewing as if it were 
escaping his ears; so slowly, yet so diligently.  His hand is now 
shielding his eyes.  He is trying to protect me from seeing him in such 
a condition, and to hide himself from the shame of being found so weak. 


I move my chair out from under the table and place my napkin down. 
Clearing my throat, I stand up.  I reach across the table and kindly 
pull my grandpa’s mask away. “I love you, Grandpa.”  I look into his 
eyes and see the fear in them disappear.  “I love you, too,” 


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