Friday, June 6, 2014

Happy 95th Birthday, Grandpa



In Honor of My Grandpa, Jerome J. Einck
On His 95th Birthday
June 6, 2014


As our country honors veterans
Each year on June the 6th,
I raise my flag to a special man
Who has my heart transfixed.

With many men in '44
He took the beach by storm.
Defending his country with all that he had
On the day that he was born.

He turned 25 on the beach that day.
He left his mark on the world.
As a very, young man with a long life ahead,
The war around him unfurled.

At night, so I hear, by candlelight,
He wrote letters to Grandma back home.
While holding her photograph close to his heart,
He signed them "with my love, Jerome."

After the war, with my Grandmother's hand,
He lived his life with ambition.
Farming and working and building a life
And watching it come to fruition.

With a gentle hand and a tender heart,
Along with discipline,
He raised four daughters (one was my mom).
His love was genuine.

The man that I know, is much more than that -
I know him as "Grandpa Einck".
He's a man who is humble (and likes to play "Tic")
And is very gentleman-like.

I find I relate to some of his ways
As I aim to fill his shoes -
With his quiet disposition
And his love for all things blue.

As time goes on his family, now
Spreads generations - four!
With grandkids – eight, great grandkids – twelve,
And someday maybe more.

My hope is that our family
Can fulfill his legacy -
To each be the type of person
That my Grandpa is to me!

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