As I await the birth of a new grandchild this spring, I think of what happened 5 years ago on April 14th 2020.

My husband Mike lost a battle to Covid. One minute I was talking to him– 40 minutes later he was gone.

Mike was so excited when our first grandchild was born. He proudly bored anyone who would listen and look at photos. We then had two more before Mike passed but they were so young that no one remembers him–only through stories.

Mike had such a wealth of knowledge on many subjects. He loved the Yankees and could not wait to get his childhood baseball glove ready for a game of catch with his first grandson William.

Mike was also a great swimmer and loved the ocean and building sandcastles with his children and was ready to start digging in the sand again.

So many lives were cut short and so many of us who remain will never have know the knowledge they had to pass down.

Now another grandchild will have no idea who this great man was and will look at a picture and never know his love. I grew up without a grandfather. He passed before I was born but I will always cherish his stories.