I remember the conversations I’ve had with Grandpa, whether they were ones we had in the kitchen or beside the koi pond. If not about my education or learning, he loved to talk to me about science and technology. Once he asked me what I thought about drones delivering packages in the future and if they would be able to find the proper house. When I told him they might crash into telephone poles or get caught in electrical wires, he laughed as if embarrassed for the drones. Because his mood was contagious, I also laughed, and our happiness made my brain churn. I began to think of how things could break and what could go wrong, such as if his automatic fish feeder would spit out too much food and make the koi too fat. Whenever I mentioned a problem, he’d smile, and I, wanting to impress him, would continue to do my best to find more problems. As our conversations progressed, he unknowingly taught me to consider Murphy’s law—that anything that could go wrong would go wrong. Such thinking has directly changed how I see the world and how I tackle and think about things I create, whether they be programs, story plots, or even drawings. For this, I’m ever grateful to Grandpa. He has made an indelible mark on my life.
Grandpa once told me his beliefs about death. He said he believed in reincarnation but that it wasn’t the type of reincarnation others believed in. Instead, he said reincarnation was the recycling of carbon molecules and their returning to the world. One day his carbon molecules would be part of something else, and that would be a piece of him reincarnated. Because his ashes were scattered into the ocean, everyday I wonder what fish he has become. I love and miss him. Wherever his molecules may have drifted to, I hope he’s happy like how he is in my memories.
Noel
(Note: Noel is Eileen’s third child.)
2008 – Skip’s 72nd birthday.