So this story goes back to the end of 2011. I am 30 now so 21 at the time. On October 7th of that year I received a frantic phone call from my mother, she informed me that my grandfather's cancer had come back with a vengeance (stage 4 melanoma) he had been in remission for a few years. She hadn't told me that days prior he had collapsed and ultimately put into a medically induced coma. I had no time....so I said goodbye to my ex-fiance and our daughter and my brother and I screamed into the night. I ultimately had a chance to say goodbye. At 8:32 in the morning he was gone I got the call the exact second I stepped foot in my driveway 3 hours away. I believe he didn't want me to ultimately be there when he passed. In between the days I spent a lot of time drinking and crying as your one to do in that moment. We made funeral arrangements, got his will in order and ultimately prepared for what we had to do. Firstly my grandfather was very very well known across my small Pennsylvania town both by locals and the authorities. The amount of love and support was immense. So many stories of his antics were shared. Even our former sheriff should up and told street racing stories. But that time came we committed him to the ground on October 14th 2011. I carried his coffin besides my step-father. So this detai will lead back in towards the end. After everything was said and done my dad had asked me "we're you smoking a cigar before we did this?" my response was no. I smoke cigarettes but hadn't had one yet. Now afterwards we all proceeded to head to the the bar. I drank very heavily that night but I can tell you that the events that took place afterwards I was Stone cold sober. My grandfather was a mechanic, drag racer and lover of Nascar and never missed a race. That Saturday was the first qualifer he missed in roughly 30 years. Sundays during race season they replay those at roughly 5-6 am. I was the only one downstairs in my now home and our very old television springs to life(it was an old cct television so if you've had one you know that sound) now I wouldn't have said anything but I heard the strike of a match and the overpowering smell of my grandfather's favorite cigar and that cough, his unmistakably cough. I sat up for a minute to get my bearings and yelled to the other room "can you turn that down a bit I have a pretty bad hangover" I heard his laugh and then the sound of the TV turning off crept in. I started to cry instantly because I knew he had left me but that was the goodbye he wanted for me. I passed back out afterwards and that was that. It'll be 10 years this year and Id like to think he still pops in from time to time to check on us because every now and again I still smell his cigar smoke and the smell of engine oil and gasoline and take some solas from it