Snuggled in the sleeping bag
On the floor between the beds
Daddy in one, my sister in the other
In the bedroom next door
My cousins sleeping sound
Down the hall behind closed doors
The only noise you'll hear tonight
Is weeping as my grandpa sleeps
All day long I had a chance
To kiss his cheek and tell him I loved him
But now that time has come and gone
And I sat by and watched it pass
For now I can hear the softly whispered goodbyes
His time with us is ending
And a new kind of light I dawning
For a little girls hero this night
A hallway light shining bright
Startles me awake
Muffled sobs from above
My daddy holds my mother close
Never knowing I'm awake
They slip out of the room
I follow silently but to the kitchen
My hands pour a drink while my eyes pour out tears
Lead into the room
I can't see through the flood
We sit around the bed
And I look for the man I admired so much
But he is not there
For my grandpa's been replaced by a cold, dead corpse
He looks like a holocaust victim
And the tears begin again
Surely this is not him
Where is the man I once knew
The man I knew what strong and brave
This man is small and weak
The man I knew survived a world war
This man has been beaten down by disease
The man I knew was alive
This man is as dead as a winter maple
But as I look closer I can see
The same handsome face
Though old and worn
The same strong hands
Now feeble and stiff
The same loving heart
Simply dwelling in a different place
But he still loves me all the same
Yes he's the man I once knew
But he's alive in a new kind of way now
He's alive in my memories
Where he'll forever stay
And that's the best kind of living
Because you can pick out the good from the bad
And remember only the happy times
When the world was good and right
