Ten years, ten long years since Jordan had been home. Those years had kept him out of the country on assignment. He had a great job, one that took him all over the world. He had been to more countries then most people would ever see in their lifetime.
He worked on a film crew that filmed mostly large televised sporting events. Most of the shoots he worked on were for ESPN, some were for the History channel, some for Discovery Channel, and just recently they had been filming the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
One of his favorite shoots had been when they were filming the PGA TOUR official event, the Sony Open in Hawaii. The first two days of the open were filmed for the Golf Channel and the last two for CBS coverage. He had got to meet three of his favorite golf pros and made sure he got autographed pictures for his father, a die hard golfer.
While there he got to see Kilauea volcano. One of the longest, continuous erupting volcano's on the planet. Nothing he had ever seen in his life compared to seeing that volcano.
Now here he was, back in the states after ten years. He hadn't seen any of his family except for his parents, who had stopped to see him when he was filming in Australia during Christmas two years ago. He called his sister at least once a month to check on her and to let her know he was alive and doing well. He and his brother hadn't spoken since the day he walked out of the family home ten years ago.
Once he had landed back in the states all those old memories came flooding back. On the trip home he kept asking himself how many more years would he have stayed away if it hadn't been for his grandfathers death.
He saw her the minute he departed the plane. She hadn't changed a bit in ten years. Sure she looked a little older, but not by much, she was still a striking woman. Her mousy brown hair now had some highlights in it making her look even more attractive. One look at her and you knew she spent time in the gym. At 36 his sister was still one hell of a beautiful woman.
"Jordan! I'm so glad you're finally home!" Katie threw her arms around her brothers neck, hugging him fiercely before planting a quick kiss on his lips.
"Why have you stayed away from us for so long? You have no idea how much we have missed you!"
"Hi sis, I missed you too," he told her hugging her back just as tightly.
"Mom is so excited that you're finally home. She has been cooking and baking all day. Poor dad is worn out from all the errands she has been sending him on these last two days."
"How's grams doing?" His loving grandmother would be lost without her Eddie around. They had been married for fifty years and still very much in love. They had gotten married very young, Grams was only fifteen and gramps seventeen when they married. When his father called him to tell him of his grandfathers death he couldn't believe it. The man had never been sick one day of his life, except for a cold now and then.
His father cleared that up for him, telling him that he wasn't ill, but had been killed in a car accident when a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit his grandfathers pickup truck head on. The doctors told them he had died instantly from the crash.
"She's doing fine Jordan. She misses gramps of course, but she said it was his time to go and she is dealing with her loss. She is very excited about her favorite grandson finally coming back home."
"I can't wait to see her either. I wish I had been able to see gramps again under better circumstances."
"We better get going brother, everyone is at the house waiting for us to get back."
"Is Carl at the house?" Carl was his brother, and he was the reason Jordan had left home. They had said some strong words to each other, mean hurtful things that should have never been said.
"Of course he's there silly."
"Katie I know everyone is expecting me to come to the house straight from the airport but I really need to go to my hotel to shower and change, it was a very long flight. He had flew in from Japan, sixteen hours on a flight and he was tired, felt gritty, wanted to brush his teeth, and just relax and think for a bit before dealing with his family.
"Alright, I'll just call mom and let her know we'll be there in a hour or so."
"No Katie. You go on back to the house, I'll be along later. I had already arranged for a rental car when I made my flight plans. I'll meet you all at the funeral home later after I've cleaned up and have a couples hours of sleep."
Katie looked long and hard at her brother, she could tell that he still harbored feelings about the fight he and Carl had before he left the country. She wanted to go with him, but she knew in her gut that he needed some time alone.
"I'll tell mom you'll meet us at the funeral home around seven then."
He thanked his sister, gave her a kiss on the cheek then left to get his rental car.
As soon as he picked up the car he headed straight for the funeral home. He wanted some private time to say goodbye to his beloved grandfather without any of the family or friends around.
As he walked down the thickly carpeted aisle tears filled his eyes. He looked the same as he had when Jordan left home. He didn't know how long he had stood there talking to his grandfather before he became aware that there was someone else in the viewing room with him.
Sitting in chair at the back of the room sat his grandmother. As soon as he noticed her she got up and headed up to see her husband and grandson. She reached up and kissed him, hugging him closely, holding onto him for a long time before releasing her hold on him.
"I knew you would come here first Jordan. I wanted to be here for you when you came."
He gathered his grandmother gently in his arms, holding her close as he let his tears run the course. When he had finally got his emotions under control he released his grandmother then walked her over to a small alcove so they could talk in private.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here grams. I should have come home sooner, now I can never get back the time I lost with him."
"You know how much your grandfather and I love you, we both understood why you left and why you stayed away Jordan. We respected your right to live your life the way you wanted without interference from your family. Even your brother finally came to grips with your decision. Carl is truly looking forward to seeing you again Jordan."
"Grams we said some terrible things to each other, some very hurtful things."