Letter to Grandpa

By: Kiana Shaffer

Dear Eagle Grandpa,

Today is the day that you left us 11 years ago. You left grandma, your daughters; you left me without a chance to say that “I LOVE YOU”! I always wonder if you meant to leave us or did someone higher than us give you a choice? I can’t believe how time has flown by, but you’re always in my thoughts and my heart. You need to know that even though you’re gone my love grows for you like a young rose bush. With the proper reminders of our memories I grow into a beautiful young adult. I’ll always remember how you guided me when it came to wood work; you were like an artist with your hands. Maybe that’s why I aspire to be a sign language interpreter so I can be an artist with my hands too. You showed me the beauty in nature and in myself. You were as stubborn as a rock and some of it rubbed onto me. Your knowledge about anything and everything surprised me every time. You made the best steak on the barbeque and since then I haven’t been able to get it just right. You ARE still all of these things. In the past I called you eagle grandpa because you liked eagles now when I speak of you and call you “eagle grandpa” it’s because you are….

My Eagle

You soar high above, watching over me

Your majestic wings shield me from danger

Your eyes understand me

Your beak pecks at me to make sure that I’m still following my dreams

Your flight patterns show my family’s busy lives

Your home is now in a high tree that can’t be visited

Your endangered but not by choice

You are my Eagle Grandpa and your no longer on earth but high in the heavens

I love you forever and always no matter what and I hope you can hear me say that like an echo it will reach you.

Your granddaughter, Kiana