Greattastic Life Special Edition: For Papa

    Greattastic Life Special Edition: For Papa

A year ago, my Grandpa, Papa, passed away. At the time of his passing, I had 8 Grandparent figures. I was fortunate to have had that many, but his passing marked my first grandparent who died (not counting great grandparents, obviously). It also marked the first death of my adult life besides a friend of mine that I was able to roll into Once In A Lifetime as an epilogue. I wrote an installment about Papa’s funeral, but in the moment I realized, I didn’t want to document every funeral, because it wouldn’t be as meaningful if I was just describing the funerals, every single time. In the Christmas special, I said that I was having trouble processing Papa and Aunt Shana’s deaths because they are different from the deaths that are depicted in Once In A Lifetime. Because writing Once In A Lifetime helped me process my grief about S.M. and the others, and not wanting to depict every single funeral that happens for the rest of my life, I decided that I would write an installment depicting the lives of each person who dies from this point on. As kind of a way to commemorate who they were before me.

Jack Savage was born on March 30th, 1953, to Martha and John Savage Sr, and he was one of four boys. Everyone who young Jack met was a friend. I would say that I am a confident person, but my confidence, at least on some level, is a form of autistic masking, and as a consequence, is always a bit of an overcompensation. Jack's was different. It came to him naturally; he is almost the textbook definition of a people person.

Jack was a very avid sportsman. In high school, he excelled at basketball, football, and baseball. He went to Ohio University and played on the baseball team. Growing up, I knew that he almost made it to the major leagues, but at his funeral, oh my gosh, the number of newspaper clippings and other articles documenting his sports journey was something I was not ready for.

In 1976, Jack met a woman named Bev Opper. Bev was a single mother of three, living in a not-so-desirable part of town. Jack and Bev began dating, he helped the family get into a better neighborhood, and in 1977, Jack and Bev got married. For their honeymoon, they went on a cabin trip in Heuston Woods, and from what Nimba has told me, it was a really fun trip. While Jack became a stepfather to Bev's children, Bob, Sandra, and Melissa, he and Bev would eventually have two daughters of their own, Shana and Cyndi. On June 22nd, 1979, Shana Marie Savage was born.

My initial idea for this installment was to go over Papa's entire life before I was born. Shana’s death changed that plan a little bit. I will be doing another installment about her life and continuing his later. While this installment is effectively just a second obituary, I have enjoyed writing it. Even though it is just an overview and not very detailed, because I was not there for any of the events of this installment, I hope that it gives a brief and accurate glimpse into Papa's young life before Shana was born.

Have a Greattastic day and be safe, 

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT.

This story will continue in Greattastic Life Special Edition: For Shana, in May!

Rules for a Greattastic Life Season 9 is coming soon!