In Memory And Honor Of My DaddyLone! My Grandfather John Pat Malone Sr.

I HAD A GRANDFATHER
by Francine A. McLean

I had a Grandfather I’ve never known,
I never held his hand,
I never heard his voice,
I never saw him smile.
I’ve never looked into his eyes, ‘nor he into mine,
We’ve never taken a walk together,
Never played a game,
Never shared a secret.
I’ve never been able to ask his opinion,
Never heard him tell the stories of his youth,
Never seen his eyes light up with enthusiasm,
Never been able to ask his advice.
But as surely as I am alive, so then is he,
I see him in my face, in the eyes that are so much like his,
I feel his gentle touch in every kind gesture I have ever made,
His courage and his spirit in every challenge I have ever faced.
Long ago before I was ever even a thought,
He made a choice to protect and to serve, And that choice took him too young and too soon,
But that choice also saved so many.
Yes, I had a Grandfather I have never known
But because I have never known him,
Because he gave his life,
I’d like to think that somewhere, someone else
Someone he ‘nor I will ever know…
Has their Grandfather’s hand to hold.