TAHOE:
A Re-Memoir of My Grandfather
Several years ago I graduated college and embarked on a 55-day, 13,000 mile road trip with a close friend. We visited 25 national parks and at least 10 microbreweries, enjoying as many sites and states as we could west of the Mississippi River. We traveled in my grandfather’s Tahoe, the last car he drove before his Alzheimer’s took away his ability to drive.
I am piecing together stories of my road trip with memories of his life. There is the contrast of a young man on the open road with his whole life ahead of him, and of an older man in a confined institution awaiting the end of his life. Our memories weave together, touching and overlapping at key moments to create a tapestry of vignettes shedding light on both of our lives.
There are moments we have together: Him teaching me to ride a bike that he put together; taking a road trip to Colorado with him and my dad, where I first learned to ski; bouncing up and down on his leg and being tossed around. Each of these memories are linked to my own memories on the road trip: extreme mountain biking in Canyonlands, Utah; returning to Colorado, this time for whitewater rafting; and then getting bounced and tossed around in the Trinity River, California, after falling out of my IK (inflatable kayak). There are joyous times like celebrating holidays together, and sad times of strikeouts at baseball games.
Through all the ups and downs, the story weaves together our fates and asks some of the deeper questions of life:
- How might we live in light of those who came before us?
- How much of our grandparents/ancestors lives on in us?
- How does memory create meaning in our lives?
- How do we hold onto our lives when we lose our memories?
My grandfather, Daddy Roy, never got to take his dream car on one final road trip. This dream-memoir takes us all on that final journey until we arrive at Lake Tahoe – the deep blue jewel that awaits everyone at the end of the road.
The working title for my book is Tahoe: A Re-memoir of My Grandfather.
I am piecing together stories of my road trip with memories of his life. There is the contrast of a young man on the open road with his whole life ahead of him, and of an older man in a confined institution awaiting the end of his life. Our memories weave together, touching and overlapping at key moments to create a tapestry of vignettes shedding light on both of our lives.
There are moments we have together: Him teaching me to ride a bike that he put together; taking a road trip to Colorado with him and my dad, where I first learned to ski; bouncing up and down on his leg and being tossed around. Each of these memories are linked to my own memories on the road trip: extreme mountain biking in Canyonlands, Utah; returning to Colorado, this time for whitewater rafting; and then getting bounced and tossed around in the Trinity River, California, after falling out of my IK (inflatable kayak). There are joyous times like celebrating holidays together, and sad times of strikeouts at baseball games.
Through all the ups and downs, the story weaves together our fates and asks some of the deeper questions of life:
- How might we live in light of those who came before us?
- How much of our grandparents/ancestors lives on in us?
- How does memory create meaning in our lives?
- How do we hold onto our lives when we lose our memories?
My grandfather, Daddy Roy, never got to take his dream car on one final road trip. This dream-memoir takes us all on that final journey until we arrive at Lake Tahoe – the deep blue jewel that awaits everyone at the end of the road.
The working title for my book is Tahoe: A Re-memoir of My Grandfather.
Elegy for My Grandfather
| Elegy for Daddy Roy |