The last time he remembered crying was when he had been playing basketball in the seventh grade. He jumped up, intending to dunk, and somebody in front of him got knocked down. Right into his crotch. He'd fallen to the ground, hands cupped, and thought he was going to throw up. Instead, he felt tears coming out of the corner of his eyes. He'd been embarassed, but his teammates reassured him that he took it like a man.
This time, there was no baketball. He was just sitting on an uncomfortable pew in a scratchy suit, and it was finally setting in that he would never see his Grandpa Jim again. Big Jim, that's what he'd always been called. He's who Jim was named after, and the family member that Jim felt most connected to.
Big Jim was supposed to take him flying next week. He'd been a pilot in World War II and still recreationally flew planes from time to time. Jim hadn't been flying with his grandpa since he was younger, but he loved it. He had been looking forward to it for weeks, and now it wasn't happening, because his grandpa had suffered a heart attack one day while he was home alone. By the time his grandma got there, it was too late, and there was nothing anybody could do.
He bowed his head, listening to his grandpa's best friend telling stories about what a great man James Spencer Halpert had been. It sounded weird to hear his full name. He wished that everybody would just call him Big Jim...but it probably wouldn't have made him feel any better.
He bowed his head, not really caring that most of his basketball team was there. They would understand. And if they didn't, then screw them. He'd lost his grandpa, his role model, his hero.
His mom wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed, whispering something that he didn't hear, trying to make him feel better. When the tears finally slid down his cheeks, he didn't bother reaching up to wipe them away.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Teenage Jim Halpert for us today. God, I bet he was adorable.
And sorry for the short length, but this was kind of hard for me to write, because it's pretty much a description of my own grandpa's funeral, who really was called Big Jim.
And sorry for the short length, but this was kind of hard for me to write, because it's pretty much a description of my own grandpa's funeral, who really was called Big Jim.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading! =)
