The very beginning...

Dear Grandpa,


The night I wrote your eulogy, I didn't cry. Normally, when I thought about you and your disease, it felt like squeezing lemon juice on an open cut, but that night it didn't hurt. It was a relief to not feel the opression I had felt ever since I was young, ever since I started to write. It was a closure that helped me move forward, understand, and respect your death.


My creative writing teacher once told me that sometimes, you write about the same thing thousands of times because you feel that the story is never complete. That is how I felt, ever since I thought that rhyming poems were the only kind of poetry. I could never fully express what I really meant to say, which is why your passing was such a closure. I finally said everything that I ever wanted to say in one, single poem. 


I recently watched a video, 99 balloons, on youtube and it inspired me. This father made a video to his deceased son, describing the monumental points in his life. It was absolutely beautiful and I thought, instead of writing about you I could write to you. All of the sudden, a flow of ideas rushed into my mind. I decided to make a website of my letters to you because I always wanted you in my memory, even though I wasn't always in yours. I would write you things that were important, stupid, silly, exciting, anything just to keep you updated on my life.


I hope you can be proud of me, Grandpa. I plan to donate every penny made on this website to the Alzheimer's Association, (www.alz.org) to help fight the disease through research and support groups. Every donation will be made in your name, Peter Hernandez.


You are in my heart and always on my mind. I miss you.


Love always,
Your granddaughter