Writer shares memories of Grandpa Ross
By Lacy Orpin
Communications Writer Texas State Technical College Waco
This past October, my co-workers at Texas State Technical College Waco and I traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations conference. My goal for my spare time during the trip was to hit the beach and hopefully, if I was lucky enough, pet a dolphin.
As it turned out, I got something even better
The day we checked in, the weather was beautiful and I was anxious to go down to the beach. I hurriedly dropped my luggage off in my room and made my way down to the lobby. When I walked out the back door of the hotel down to the beach, I was awestruck with what I saw.
The USS Lexington.
She was a vision of beauty, and I was completely fascinated. At the same time however, I was disappointed in myself for not knowing more about her rich history. This is a national treasure that played a significant role in our country's defense for nearly 50 years, and I didn't even know it was located in Corpus Christi.
I got a history lesson from some very special teachers.
As I headed back to my room, I noticed a group of elderly men embracing one another as though they hadn't seen each other in years. Their shirts all read the same inscription: "USS Lexington 60 year Anniversary." They were in fact, some of the first sailors aboard the Lexington, or as I later found out she was called "The Blue Ghost."
As I watched each of them smiling and laughing with their lifelong buddies, I imagined them as young sailors aboard the Lexington. Their muscled bodies and chiseled faces were now gone. They shuffled along slowly, and some needed to clutch onto their diminutive wives for support
I couldn't help but marvel at them.
I wondered if life had been good to them. Years had changed their bodies, but time had clearly not changed their bond. They were brothers of sorts, forever united from the time they spent aboard the very ship docked outside.
That's when something wonderful happened to me
My beloved grandpa, Ross Mathias (whose last name fittingly means gift of God), passed away when I was 13 years old. Outside of my dad, Grandpa was the only man I loved as a young girl. His magical blue eyes, his laughter singing in my ears, and images of him in his overalls will all be forever closely guarded in my mind. I cherish the many fond memories I have of the time my sisters and I spent on the farm in Peabody.
The day Grandpa died, my dad and older sister, Marcie, showed up outside my seventh grade science class. I immediately knew Grandpa was gone by the looks on their faces. He had suffered horribly from diabetes and his leg had been amputated just months before he died. I still can vividly remember the day he died, lying on my trampoline outside in the dark, crying so hard that a neighbor stopped to ask me if I was OK.
I was heartbroken.
I often wish he could see me today and the woman I have become. I wish he could have seen me play sports in college. I wish he could see my niece and nephew and both of my beautiful sisters on their wedding days. More than anything though, I wish I could have asked him about his life, and what it was like for him to be in the war.
Like many young men of his era, Grandpa Ross admirably volunteered to serve in the Navy during World War II. My mom still proudly has his Navy jacket and a letter he wrote to the newspaper before he left. In the letter, Grandpa said he felt it was his duty to help go take care of "this old war."
That was my special Grandpa.
Unlike the men on board the Lexington, Grandpa thankfully never saw combat. He was stationed in Hawaii and spent time in Pearl Harbor, but fortunately missed the bombing.
Seeing those men in the lobby together was a bittersweet feeling. While it gave me joy to see old friends reuniting, it saddened me in that I wanted it to be my grandpa. I never got to see him hugging his buddies or hear his stories from his time as a young sailor. I so wish I would have been able to know that side of him
My grandpa was indeed a gift of God that I was fortunate to have in my life for the briefest of moments. Like the brave men and women of our nation's military today, he in his way helped protect our country, and for that I am eternally proud.
I love you Grandpa.
Note: Lacy Orpin in a writer at Texas State Technical College in Waco, Texas. She is the daughter of James and Ruth (Mathias) Orpin and the granddaughter of the late Ross and Margaret Mathias. You can email her at lacy.orpin@tstc.edu.
