on this veteran's day

i havent really had the guts to get this down anad out of me, it's been some time, and after a while of thinking how to tell this to you, i decided i would not tell the world about who you were, i would tell them who you are and how much you really meant to me. here it goes;
Dear Grandpa Archie,
It's been almost two years since that day, a day i will never forget. i remember it all too clearly. the evening before i had gone to visit you for the last time and i wish i'd never left.
it was a thursday, my mom had been with you all day along with auntie donna, uncle dave and grandma. i was mostly in disbelief in my classes that cold day in january. i thought, "he'll be fine, he's my grandpa, he'll be here forever." until that night. my had come home and around 5:30 auntie donna called. i remember, i was doing my algebra homework on the counter, in the spot where you always sat when you came to visit. she told us the news and i couldnt hold it in. she and i hugged and cried for nearly an hour that night, but we both knew deep down you werent really gone. That was probably one of the toughest days of my life, i cant even imagine what it was like for uncle dave. anyways, ever since that day, i've thought about you every chance i got and i'm continuing to try to make you proud. today you were in my thoughts especially though.
today was veteran's day and we spent an hour during school watching teachers talk about their time serving our country, which is something i never really got to learn about you and that is something i regret. But i know you did, and i know you did it with pride and loyalty. pretty much all i know is you were in the marines and you had a tatoo of a anchor on your right arm and a flag over your coffin.
that tatoo always made me smile, which is something i'm not sure you knew. when i was little i always wondered why you had a tatoo of a gingerbread man with a rope wrapped around him on your arm. now that i've learned what it really was and what it meant to our nation, i wish i'd taken the time to ask you.
but today during our assembly, i realized that what you did really meant a lot, and i think i want to follow you. many kids werent listening to the video, and were talking to their friends, and i found it really disresectful. but, it changed me. i thought you should be the first person i tell. i'm not sure just how to tell anyone else yet, and i thought maybe you could help me out if you think this is the right thing for me to do.
there are many things that have happened that i wish you'd been around for, but deep down i know you're watching me, iit's just not really the same. swimming has been great, i've made lots of new friends also. Lindsey still stops by every once in a while, i know you liked her. School has been going well, i'm a sophomore now, erin, erica and alex are doing well also. i know you know that, but...i just need to make sure.
My mom is doing well, but every now and then i can tell she's thinking of you. We all miss you.
I've learned more about how you died as time has gone on and i assume i will learn more as time begins to tell, but i know you fought hard without ever wincing a bit. us kids never saw you in pain. you knew you had five years to live, and yet you never once let that change a single day. you lived life the way you wanted to, you wanted to see us grow and you did. you didnt want some doctor to change your fate, because that would have made things worse. we never saw you sick, and i love you for doing what you did. i know now just how hard it was amd i want you to know you are my hero for that. you lived for a year and a half on one lung, with not a single tube or bandaid to show it. no one without special super powers could do that. everytime i think of god, i think of you because maded himself very obvious in you.
I guess i've realized i should toughen up a bit and cry a little less like you, but i think of how many people loved you and it's very hard. Father george still mentions you every once in a little while. I remember that at your funeral, jeff talked about your laugh and how it still rung in his head. to tell you the truth, it's begun to fade from my memory, but knowing it was there at one point is really what makes me happy. The hansen boys remember you too, they loved you and your "bat car" i honestly dont think it is possible to forget you, you were the best grandpa there is. you came from nothing and look at all you created.
funny thing, i found a box of old pictures a few days ago and found myself laughing at all the good times we all had. you were a man who loved life and loved everything it offered you, and that has definately changed me. every day i try to be more like you.
i love you a lot, and i miss you very much. i hope where ever you are there are plenty of suduko books, nuts and vintage cars to look at. if heaven wasnt so far away, i would come and visit all the time, but we'll be together soon, and when we are, nothing can ever take us apart again.
i love you,
Abbie