Grandpa Al radioed coordinates in the Korean War.

He was quiet, loved his Yankees, and sipped O’Doul’s in the summertime.

He had a fake leg and owned a ukulele, too—
a sweet, beautiful instrument boxed up in his basement.

I can see him now.

He’s smiling. Sipping. Strumming and plucking.

Justin Deming lives and teaches in the Hudson Valley region of New York.