Luis Padilla – My gradfather.

I thought long and hard on how to start this. I wanted to think about the positive and the negative but Im simply going to present the man that is my grandfather.

My gradfather died this morning, June 11th 2010. He was 79 years of age. He is the father of my dad and the father of 8 children. The picture to the left is only a small fraction of what he helped create. He is the man in the bottom row, second from the left. My grandfather, is tall, strong willed and by observation had a way of making people do things. I guess you can call him a leader. He simply had “it”. You could tell he was a mans-man and a go-to-guy when things got dicey.

The first memories of him are in Mexico, him sitting outside, the sun shinning, cows and horses passing by, and someone calling out, “ep ese luis!”. He would nod his head, inhale his cigarette, and look int the distance. He was a thinker. I remember sitting in the trunk once with him. He took me out to see the cows we used to own and having him explain to me that I should find myself a Mexican girl to take back with me. lol. I bet you thought i was going to say he told me the meaning of life huh..lol.

Stories, he was a good story teller. Each time our family would head to Mexico I would secretly want them to sit outside at night. It was normal to have everyone sit outside in chairs at night, sipping coffee, and just talking. Everyone talked but not everyone was interesting. He was. Stories about how things have changed, ghost stories, and small chats about life with my uncles and aunts.

He was always on the move I would say. Always coming up with ways to do things. He really loved his family. He was a family man. Im not saying that just to say it either. He loved having children around, having family around, and it seemed he was at peace when all of the family was there. He loved taking care of us.

He was recently diagnosed with cancer. The news wasnt taken well by my dad. My dad received the news today of his passing. I feel that both my grandfather and my dad can now rest. My dad lately had flown back and forth to Mexico. He became jumpy each time the phone would ring anticipating the bad news always keeping a watchful eye at the location of the suite case just in case.

Today the news came. I felt torn apart. I know my dad will take it hard. Very hard. Thats what worries me. To have a 1 minute conversation with your father and the only thing that comes out is, “ya” (thats it) in between the cries is tough for me to comprehend and cope with at the moment.

Im really glad I met my grandfather and extremely glad that he was with me for 29 years.

Armando Padilla