Rest in Peace, Asa Buchanan

It's safe to say there was no one like my grandfather.  He was larger than life, bigger and badder, smarter and tougher ... the list goes on.  I've been thinking a lot about him the last few days. Not specific memories, but random things like the flash of his blue eyes when he taught us how to play poker, or whenever he needled Nigel or sang "Chantilly Lace."  Summers spent at the Buchanan Ranch were the bedrock of my childhood.  I definitely will bring Bree there, but it won't be the same without Grandpa, bossing the staff around, teaching the young ones how to ride ... This morning I woke up with the memory of Grandpa asleep on the ranch sunporch, his cowboy hat askew on his head. In his later years, he wasn't as strong physically, but he was just as vibrant. 

Todd offered to me the chance to write a longer tribute piece to Grandpa in The Sun. He had Clyde write the obituary. It's a fine piece; Clyde did his research and it was well written.  I'm having a hard time getting anything down on paper ... everything I loved and knew about Grandpa are in bits and pieces ... as if they need to be strung together like pearls on a necklace, no end, no beginning, each pearl as luminescent as the next.

I loved my grandpa with the fiercest devotion.  When I learned I wasn't a Buchanan by blood, I was devastated. But Grandpa didn't blink an eye.  It didn't matter to him, I was still his "Jessie," his blond, blue-eyed girl.  He wasn't a perfect man. Sometimes he wasn't a good man. But he was my grandfather ... and for that I will always be grateful.

Comments

[Verna]

That's your piece right there. Very well said, Jessie! Perfect tribute.

[Shelby]

You have a wonderful grandpa Jessica.
I know you will miss him
forever.
Remebering the good times you had with him are the greatest memories.
He still loved you even if you weren't a Buchanan by blood.
Bringing Bree to the ranch is a great idea.
You can share your memories
of being out the ranch with
Bree and when she gets older you can teach her to
ride a horse.

[Markella]

i like one life to live on abc7 and on the soap network its the best show i have seen so far in my life

[Marge]

SALUTE TO ASA BUCHANAN
and those like him. There are damn few left. I've watched Asa since the role began on OLTL. Whether you loved him or hated him, he took us on one hell of a ride over the years and I'll miss that ole cowboy very much. Landview, PA will just never be the same.
Now I'm gonna sit back in my overstuffed chair with a glass of great burbon and a good cigar; lift my glass in toast to "the one and only, Asa Buchanan", light that cigar and with a tear in my eye say, "Good Ride Cowboy, Good Ride!"