Remember Me ....

One of the greatest people you could of ever known was J.C.  He was not a fan of his name and would not let anyone call him by his full name, only JC.   he worked at the same place we did, and when i moved to missoula, he lived in the apartment complex that we were renting, right across and below us for a while until lil man came along then we had to get a bigger apartment, so we were a little further away, but not that far.
 JC was the kind of guy that could make you smile, and make you feel like family without even trying.
we got close to him over the years and when lil man came along, it became grandpa JC.  he loved little man and always had a ball playing and interacting with him.

about the time lil man came along, JC found out he had cancer, so he was fighting that and doing good for a while.   We would visit him often, and he would always go out and dust his truck off every day wearing this silly straw cowboy hat.  Not sure why he dusted his truck every day, but he enjoyed it, thats what counts.
When we found out he was becoming ill his one fear was that we would forget about him. 
Until his last day, he kept telling us, not to forget him.   Like we ever could. But we tried to assure him that there would be no way he would ever be forgotten, by me, or lil man.   as lil man grew older he would know about his grandpa JC and would think of him.

So i did something to help assure him that he would not ever be forgotten.  I went and got a tattoo of his goofy hat on the back of my left shoulder.  He was speechless when i showed him.

he will never be forgotten. 

He called one day, saying he was having chest pains, he was on a high dose of morphine and other drugs, so me being me i didnt risk anything, before he hung up, i was at his door ready to load him in the car, and away we went.. i was doing 80 through town, would have called a ambulance but the hospital was only about a mile away and i knew i could get him there faster. *LOL* he never let me live that down.. crazy fool running red lights and passing people in the turn lane and speeding..  turns out it was a medication giving him problems and nothing serious, but one never knows.

 As time went on, he really enjoyed the company of little man.  JC was fascinated with Gorilla's, so he bought one just for Jonathan,  He still has it in great shape, mom makes sure of that, so when he gets older he will have something that grandpa jc gave him.

we lost JC a few weeks later, he just gave up and stopped eating, he talked to us and told us he was going to do this, the pain was getting to be to much.  His family moved him into a nursing home for the last week or two, and we had a heck of a time finding him, but we did, it was a bitter sweet visit. But he was alert and knew who we were, but you could tell, it was coming to the end.
On our way home, it was hot, the windows were open, we hit a red light close to home, and a bird feather fell in the window and landed on the center of the dash.  Which was unusual, naturally the thought was of JC, but got home and opened the door, and some how sitting in the middle of the living room floor was another bird feather. Now how that one got there i have no clue.  All we can say is JC was giving one to each of us.

That evening we lost JC,  and i do everything i can to help him now, i make sure he is never forgotten by his friends, family and others that never even knew him.  So do a old man a favor and think of him once in a while, if he is up there looking down it will put a smile on his face.

P.S. His goofy hat sits in my living room, and will until things are not good for me, and then it will go to jonathan.

Rest in peace JC, Gone but never EVER forgotten!.

His memorial on the Veterans Wall In Hamilton Montana.  I have visited this many times, its hard to see without shedding a tear.   "Remember Me"  Always.   Love you Grandpa