Honoring Grandpa

I honor my Grandpa A man I dearly loved Who gave me a great gift One I treasure Beautiful music He was an imperfect man Groping for answers And in his confusion And he hurt me very deeply What he did Was truly abominable But I forgive him I bless him And I remember him well For all the good he did to me Big pink "horsepills" Riding on his shoulders Scratching his goatee Summers in the mountains The fresh smell of the ponderosas Hikes and working together Yosemite The love of the mountains And music, always the music Oh, he had gift What beautiful songs he wrote And a voice like waters A Yosemite waterfall Deep, rich and resounding Full of life To penetrate the soul And he passed it on to us All his progeny have the gift I was blessed He taught me to sing Ten years I studied with him At least one day a week More than any of the others Of his beloved grandchildren Who were blessed to study with him And he loved me for it "Oh, I love you, Stevo!" He would say So full of gratitude That I wanted his best offering The best part of his legacy to his family His art, his greatest passion How blessed am I So grateful that he gave me so much good Things so rich and treasured By which I can remember him And in time Be free of the great wound That he gave me in his confusion I forgive him I love him, I honor him I am so grateful to know He is at peace On his deathbed he repented And went forever to live with his Maker One day I will see him there And carry on my friendship With this dear man I love And honor Stephen Pursell, 10/14/14, in honor on F. J. Pursell, my beloved grandfather