I would like to dedicate this story in loving memory of my grandfather, who passed away this Wednesday, April 16th, 2014, at age 84, due to a hemorrhagic stroke.

Ever since I remember he had been a constant presence in my life. When I was born my parents decided to finally go to college, so I was left in my grandparents' care during the day while they attended to their studies. I grew up beside both of them, but my grandfather was the one who played with me the most.

By the time I was able to walk and talk he would take me out every day to the same mall where I would play in the kiddy rides, splash my hands in the water fountain and play with other kids who I befriended there, most of the them being the sons and daughters of the store owners.

His health started deteriorating around two years ago, when he had his first stroke. He seemed to be fine; there was no brain damage and his ability to speak wasn't any different then how it was before, but as the weeks went by he became visibly weaker. He was getting slower and his legs didn't seem to budge when he tried to walk. He started to stutter whenever he talked, as if the words didn't want to come out.

He suffered another stroke in January, and since then he had been in and out of the hospital four times. The last one had been due to something in his esophagus and the fact that he was urinating blood, but the doctors could never explain what he had. After he seemed to be better they sent him home with some medication, and he seemed to be well, despite the fact that he was completely unable to walk without help, lost control of his bodily functions, having to wear a diaper, and stayed in bed all day. It all culminated into last Tuesday, when my grandmother called my mom in panic saying that he couldn't move anything but his eyes and wasn't responding to anything. He was in the hospital for a day in a coma, until he died.

I hope you don't get the wrong idea about me writing this. I'm sharing my pain with you not because I want you to feel sorry for me, but because I wanted to have something to remember him by other than just old pictures. By posting this I'll be able to reread it whenever I want, and recall all the special moments in my life I spent with him. I hope you all understand.

~LeelaSmall