10 Reasons My Grandad Is My Hero

My grandfather, William Gaitor, passed away on Wednesday, June 9, 2010. He was 86. My mom is an only child and so am I (well I’m her only child…). My maternal grandmother passed in 1996 so its just me and Mama against the world now. Its so weird, my grandad has always been there. Even when Granny passed, we always had him so this is almost surreal sometimes. Its like, how can a world exist and he not be in it? Unfortunately I’ll come to grips with his absence and miss him terribly, like I miss my grandma and my Dad. He always told me how proud he was of me… I just wish I had told him that he was one of my heroes. During our last conversation he spontaneously said he loved me. I’m glad I got to tell him one last time.

1. William Gaitor was born on March 7, 1924 in Miami. He was affectionately called Bill or Gaitor by his friends and family. He married my grandmother, Muriel Vera Rolle in 1955. Grandaddy liked giving nicknames (a habit I just realized I picked up) – my grandmother’s nickname was ‘My Muriel’ and my nickname was Pumpkin Poo.



2. Grandaddy was a proud Veteran of World War II. My childhood is filled with his stories of his European travel while a soldier, and he loved teaching me the few words he remembered from different languages. Examples are greetings in French, German numbers, and words that I’ve figured out later a child probably shouldn’t be taught… He also told stories of imminent danger, such as the time where his bad habit of being late caused him to be the only survivor when his entire unit was killed. This sparked my early desires to learn different languages and see the places that he’d been, like Berlin or the Eiffel Tower.


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