Like a Grandpa

It could have been anybody...anybody, but it wasn't, it was the old man down the street. The old man who was like a grandpa to all the neighborhood kids...the old man that seemed to always be old from as far back as anyone could remember, and yet, his eyes were young, his laughter crisp, and his sense of humor quite funny.
Shocked was not the word for what the neighborhood felt when they learned that Old Man McKenzie had passed on to be with the Lord. How could that be, he was happy, and funny, and so alive...but he was gone from this world.
A soberness hugged the neighborhood as everyone quietly missed this jolly old man...and looking at his house they found themselves waiting for him to come out and sit for a minute and chat. But the house was unusually dark, and quite quiet. No, things would definitely not be the same here on Harriet Lane.
That's how it was back then when Old Man McKenzie moved on...and then it came to pass that as time flipped through its pages and the days became months and years, there were new neighbors and slowly, hardly anyone was left that remembered the Old Man. The children grew up and moved on. But there was this one boy who never did move on, he just stayed in the neighborhood, cared for his mother, and grew old in the house he was born in. He selflessly cared for his mother and missed out on a life of his own, but truly to him, it was the better thing to do. As time went on, he was alone, and there on Harriet Lane he grew old...and when he sat outside on his step, he talked and laughed with the children, and the neighbors. He was a very nice guy and everyone loved him. Old Man Fadden, he had a smile that was genuine, eyes that sparkled, and a laugh that called for you to join in too.
Old Man Fadden was surely going to do his best to be there to help those in need...to bring a smile, to make you laugh, and to sit a while on his step and talk. Old Man Fadden was like a grandpa to all the neighborhood children...and yes, life on Harriet Lane had come full circle---and the neighbors would never forget.

Louise Alberto McAtee
Author of When That Day Comes
http://www.outskirtspress.com/whenthatdaycomes