His last day.

I remember my 16 month old daughter gripping his giant “pinky” ever-so tightly as they walked together down the sidewalk. Her little hand could barely wrap around his colossal digit, but she held on to it ever so tightly. As they walk along Dad would slow his pace, so that his little princess could catch up. His 6’4” frame cast a shadow on the sidewalk beside her; the contrast in size between the pair was almost comical. Dad hunched over her lending his hand to the little one next to him, providing the comfort she needed to continue walking. I saw her gaze up at the Giant with an ear to ear grin as she held his hand and continued to walking, she was there with Grandpa, her world was just perfect. They continued to walk down the sidewalk together at a snails pace, but neither of them complained. Dad’s smile was so big; I imagined that it was the shear weight of his grin that was slowing him down.

When they finally arrived at the park Dad picked up his princess and placed her in the swing, a magical swing that only a princess could ride. As Dad pushed the swing, his princess’ smile grew, and he started to glow. When his princess grew tired of the swinging, she asked Grandpa to take her to the orange, cave like, slide high up at the top of the park. She wanted so badly to glide down the long slide; however she refused to go alone. She tugged at Dad’s pinky and motioned towards the orange beast. Dad knew that his princess needed him, so he climbed up the stairs leading to the slide and took hold of his little prize. He sat her on his lap and positioned himself for the ride. His large frame could barely squeeze through the round opening of the orange cave, however he pushed and pushed. The image of grandpa squeezing through the tube, reminded me of the story of Winnie the Pooh trying to squeeze his body through an opening in a tree only to get stuck, I had to chuckle. Dad pushed and squeezed, and he might have even held his breath for a few seconds, but he did it and down the slide they went! His princess held on tight as they passed through every bend and curve and at the end of the slide I could see matching smiles.

The weather got colder and Dad’s little princess started to shiver. The giant picked up his little prize, held her tight to his body to shield her from the chill and started to walk back the way we had came. The princess didn’t complain about leaving the park, she was smiling up high in her Grandpa’s arms. As he carried her down the sidewalk, you could see a bright glow on his face, he was enjoying their moment. As they walked along the sidewalk his princess pressed her lips up against his cheek, without prompting, she kissed him. I imagined that his heart grew about ten times in size at that moment.

That was the last time she kissed her Grandpa.