My grandfather passed away last Friday. After a few days of tumultuous movement from my house, to the land of my family which I call the land of Rain and Sun (or more specifically, Culiacan, Sinaloa), I said good bye to my grandfather at his funeral, and made sure I was the strongest individual for my family. I had come prepared, ready to carry a heavy load. As I held my dad, a man who I have only seen cry 3 or so times in my life, sob disconsolately, I slowly became burdened in tears and sadness. I held my grandmother, and my uncle, my sister, and countless other family members, and let their tears become lost upon my shoulders, and I refused to cry. It almost seems like a blur, a moment of distance where I fazed over the event. Up until yesterday, when I got back home, I had no idea of what the time was, other than what the sun could tell me.

As for my grandfather, he left behind many things, most importantly a large family, but he goes on to better places, and to a son that awaits him. Grandpa's passing also lead to a few days of strange occurrences, with a few that I doubt I'll forget for a while. I have no regrets as to how I interacted with with him, and in my mind, I will always see the frail person with a kind and warm smile that my grandfather was. He looked so thin in his casket. It was almost hard to imagine how slowly my grandpa wasted away. It's a little impressive to consider that grandfather passed away as he wished, stubborn to the end, in peace and without pain. The event itself was the talk of the city, with several newspapers mentioning grandpa's passing, with a small eulogy written by one of the newspapers star reporters. It was so strange to see bodyguards and people stationed with full body armor and heavy caliber weapons stationed all around. As it turns out, the mayor, the incoming mayor and a few high post people in the government attended grandpa's ceremony. I recall the scent of flowers at his viewing. Everyone said that grandpa would have felt such pride at his passing, because he got so many flowers. Some of the arrangements he got were worth a lot of money, and there were so many. From small flower arrangements, to large impressive ones that covered almost entire walls, the rooms dedicated for his viewing were packed with flowers and people mourning him.

As for myself, I inherited a hat of his, something that my grandma wished for me to have, and gave to me in tears as I left yesterday morning. I will miss him dearly, but I know he's in a better place.

Rest in peace, grandpa.