I stayed behind Dad as we entered.
Grandpa walked toward the hallway.
“Come.”
I expected him to open his bedroom door.
Instead, he passed it.
Then he opened the door to a small room at the back of the house that had been locked for as long as I could remember.
I stopped.
Inside were two separate narrow beds.
Beds
A large telescope stood beside the window.
On a wooden table were dozens of old photographs, letters, a video camera, and a thick photo album.
There was also a small suitcase.
I looked at Grandpa.
“What is all this?”
He sat down slowly.
Dad remained near the doorway.
Father’s Day gifts
Neither man seemed willing to speak first.
Finally Grandpa pointed toward the album.
“Open it.”
The first photograph showed a young woman about my age.
For a second, I thought it was me.
Same dark hair.
Same smile.
Even the shape of her eyes looked familiar.
“Who is she?”
Grandpa smiled.
“Your grandmother, Rose. She was twenty-six there.”
My exact age.
I turned the page.
There were photographs of Grandma and Grandpa sitting on a porch.
Seating solutions
Another of them beside an old car.
Another showed Grandma asleep in a chair beside a hospital bed.
I looked up.
“What does this have to do with tonight?”
Grandpa took a long breath.
“Tomorrow morning I’m having surgery.”
My heart dropped.
Sleep aids
“What surgery?”
Dad finally spoke.
“Heart surgery.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“For months.”
“And nobody told me?”
Beds
Grandpa answered.
“I asked them not to.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you looking at me like I was already gone.”
Suddenly Dad’s old warnings came rushing back to me.
Don’t jump on Grandpa.
Don’t sit on his lap.
Father’s Day gifts
Be careful around him.
I slowly turned toward Dad.
