City - Seatonville State - ILLINOIS Country - United States
About
His name was James Murray Loy, II. He will forever be known as Grump. Not "Grumpy"... just simply... Grump. I tagged him with that one day when he yelled at me. I shot back, “You are such a grump!” I was 15… maybe 14, or 16… Over the years most of my immediate family has referred to him as Grumpy… that is not accurate. While he was grumpy, his nickname was Grump… a subtle difference. My grandfather was James Murray Loy, II… he was known to me as Grump. For those of you who have seen my pics from Loy-Wood place in central Illinois, well, I have the place because Grump left it to me and my wife. 926 E. Brookie street is where Grump lived on the day Grandma Helen died. My place (because of him) is where Grump planted and tendered seedlings… tomatoes, green peppers and such… and when he died he was wandering about the house of his daughter (my aunt) in Indiana and repeating over and over again, “I want to go home.” He had lived for years in Seatonville but, when he was passing… when he was just days, hours, seconds from lying down forever… he was in his daughter’s house away from home. On the night he died he made his way to a door and stood looking out at a snowstorm… and said over and over and over and over again… “I want to go home.” His home was in Seatonville… I own it now… he never made it back to die in his own bed. A few years ago I was lying snug in my bed all cuddled up to MM and I had a dream… I was trying to climb up onto the roof of the garage I just built… and I was trying, and clawing, and scrambling to get up the roof… and Grump was on the peak, looking down at me. He said……… nothing. Just looked down at me. I clawed, scratched… scraped my way up, inch by inch… and when I finally set my tired and whipped arse next to him he turned to me and said, “If I had helped you it would not have been worthwhile.” Over the years here on Usefilm (and elsewhere) I have talked a lot about my current life and my wife and my children… but I have seldom mentioned where I came from. Those who gave me direction. The people who have passed but still have a hold on my soul. I have spoken very little about why I am like I am…and me being all about history… crazy… In my files I have a photo of my grandfather at the age of 16. It was taken in 1926. I also have a pic of him and Grandma Helen from 1929. I have a shot of both of them at their 25th wedding anniversary. I have images of both in the 1960’s and 70’s and 80’s… and I have this photo of Grump just weeks before he died. He looks tired. He taught MM how to play the accordion. I must get her to knock off a few bars of “The Tennessee Waltz” for me…
We just had some midwinter festivals (matariki). Apparently traditionally a time of remembering those that have passed. I want to set up such a tradition time of remembrance in my family. I never really had one. A time to get the slide projector out and the old photos. Yeah he's tired. Yeah he's making something happen. Great shot.
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