Memories Fading

When I was a child, I would sit upon my grandfather's knee,
And listen while he told me stories
But now I'm grown,
And although I love him still,
I can't climb in his lap and tell him about my day.
On Christmas morning when we arrived at their house,
I would run to say hello.
But now he's dying, and I can't do a thing.
He's dying, and all I'm doing is watching.
He's dying and all I can do is pray.

All those times of visiting,
Rest special in my mind.
All those times he spent with me
Are such close memories.
But now those memories are fading, fading away.
My sadness at this hard fact is like a torrent of rushing rain,
Like an avalanche of hard cold snow, and like a cold hand crushing my heart.

My grandfather is so special to me,
It is so hard to let him go.
Why, oh why, did he have to die,
And leave such a loving family so far behind?
He was so kind and strong, and yet at the end, he was so weak.
My sadness is a lump in my throat,
Yet my grief is the sight of a pretty flower on a spring day,
For he has gone Home.

So many memories of when I was young enough
To say I was a child.
So many memories of the stuff
We did together, the times we shared.
Yet now those memories are slowly fading, fading away.

I am trying to catch them,
To keep them from retreating,
For they are so special.
It almost seems as if they are purposefully
Fleeing away from my grasp
I just can't let these memories keep fading,
Fading from all sight and knowledge.