Grandpa Joe

Much too early to be awake... much too bright and much too hard to be asleep. That is the trouble with sleeping outside. It isn't even really that bright, it looks like the sun hasn't quite got over the edge of the buildings across the park.
It had been years since Zeb last slept out doors in town, and even longer since he had done it without a tent or sleeping bag. Thank goodness for park benches or he would have been on the ground as well. Many things to remind him of Grandpa Joe.
Zeb didn't know if he was even really related but as long as he could remember Grandpa Joe was there. He came over for supper every Thursday and always had a story or trick to show the kids while they ate. Zeb remembered very well when Joe stood up and said he would say the alphabet backwards and that he needed absolute silence because of the difficulty of the task. They had all sat wide eyed watching when suddenly he turned his back to the table and started reciting. Even at seven years old Zeb knew that wasn't backwards, and he missed the letter L and the letter V. Joe didn't have much but he shared everything he  had.
One day after dinner Joe volunteered to wash the dishes as he had so many times, every time his knees would let him, and called Zeb to wash with him. "Zeb my boy, I can give you the world if you will come help me!" reluctantly he  came and when they were nearly finished he explained. "Zeb, here is a secret. No one wants to wash the dishes. If you are willing to wash the dishes you will never go hungry! I can teach you to always have a place to sleep as well, then you will have the world and you will never want."
After begging his mother for two weeks Zeb had gone with Joe to the park and found places to sleep and wash and so much of life to observe. That had been a long night full of fascination as a child.
Last night could have been the same night and Zeb almost noticed Joe there with him. The night birds sang, there was the same quarter moon and Orion in the sky. The wind was in the trees and the bench was just as hard. Now as the sun started to rise Zeb offered a silent prayer, same as he had at a funeral a little more than a year ago.- Thank you God for Grandpa Joe. He had nothin and game me the world. Bless his heart. Amen.