It’s Good Friday, everyone. I hope you had a good week. My week has been a bit stressful. On Tuesday morning, my grandfather passed away. Grandpa James was 97, and the last of eight children; the last of his generation. I have a few fond memories of him. One of my favorites is walking with him in Central Park. I was about ten or eleven, and he could easily out-walk me. Sometimes he’d stop and look back at me and say, “Are you okay, Nic?” He was always very spry. Both a carpenter and a painter, Grandpa James painted and worked on a number of houses around New York, especially in Queens. Everyone knew “Jimmy”.

Grandpa built the house he raised his children in in New York. His children grew up in the same neighborhood as LL Cool J. One day, while I was watching TV with him, an episode of NCIS was on. The moment he saw LL he said, “Oh, I remember him. That’s James. He used to come by the house and have breakfast.” Needless to say, I was shocked. But, I confirmed with both of my parents this was true. LL and my father grew up together and my mother’s family knew him. So that was a really cool moment.

Grandpa James has been cremated and his ashes will be laid to rest this weekend. Love you Grandpa 🙂