As we pass the IHOP

I'm struggling to come up with an idea to write about today. I just can't get my mind to settle on a singular topic that I find interesting or that is deep enough to write about. I want to sit here and think about something important but then again, I don't.
In Lit this week we talked about poetry again, and in particular we talked about an elegy. And elegy is something you write to remember someone who has died. Of course we read one about someone who lost their grandfather which made me remember Blackie. It's hard to believe it was almost seven years ago that he passed away. I can remember those days and the hospital and that night that we all slept there. The smells, sounds, the faces of the nurses. I can remember the songs we sang as a family to make sure the last thoughts we had were happy. we cried a little but mostly we celebrated. We celebrated my grandpa because he lived his life until the very end and he lead a full life.
I left the room to let the adults that were there say their goodbyes, his sons and daughters, my Grandma. It was hard to say goodbye knowing that I would never see or talk to him again but I knew that he was going to a place where he would stay forever, waiting to welcome us home, one by one. I gave him a hug, kissed him on his cheek and said my goodbyes. Blackie had me lean over and whispered in my ear "Always do you best. Never give up." Those words didn't always ring throughout me like they should have. Sometimes it takes adversity to remember that those you love will always give the needed advice.
I talked to Blackie before every sporting event I participated in. I carved his initials in my shoulder pads, wrote his name on all my shoes. I didn't take it as far as my Dad, who carried his ashes with him every game he coached. But it felt right, like he was there with us, watching and calling out the defense for us.
It's been so long since that night but it seems like just yesterday. I think about it all the time and I miss you greatly. I haven't always lived by your words but I still haven't given up. And because of you I hope that I never will.