Dear Friends,

It comes as a great shock to all of us, but my grandfather unexpectedly died this weekend. The only redemption I can see is that while it was unexpected, it was quick and he did not suffer. Just last week he had purchased his fourth motorcycle and was riding about town on a good day. He couldn't wait for the spring to really arrive so he could get out on his bike. Yes, the services are at Cartmell, the funeral home with the good mints, but I feel so numb inside that the mints don't matter.

For almost always, I thought that I would die long before my grandfather. With his unswerving spunk and zest for life, even the two times he battled cancer, dumped his bike, took a fall breaking his leg, I knew that he was a fighter and would make it through. Perhaps the only thing I ever considered that would kill him was the lonliness and broken heart he suffered after losing my grandmother. He lost his faith and went astray from his true heart, if only for a short time he was recreated by his anger from his loss.

I believe I got my fight and ability to bounce back from him. Part of me too, is angry with the cards I've been dealt, but he always told me to pick yourself up and carry on, my dad is like that too but with less of the emotional fervor. But what now? I believe that he will be in a better with my grandmother, the love of his life, who will be buried in her urn in with his casket, as they both wished. I know that I will go on, but it will be so much different. What becomes of the compound? What will their legacy be? What will my legacy be with out my guiding hand to push or pull me through to make mee feel like anything was possible, even fireworks on my thritieth birthday if it gave me the wherewithall to get healthy. Since my grandemother has died I have thought about her everyday. Now with both of them gone, I know they will take a large part of my mental space. He helped keep me grounded, emotional, physically, financially with just about everything. He loved to reminisce about the "good ol' times," the times when his brothers were alive and Liberty Street was his life and he longed for nothing more. Those were simpler times, full of lessons and times to be cherished even though they have passed and now collect dust.

He was 78, but his birthday is the 31st and he would have been 79.

HIS OBITUARY FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE...

Joseph Anthony Balboni Sr.

Of Plymouth, age 78, died on March 24, 2007 at the Jordan Hospital. He was the devoted husband of the late Janice M. (Seaver) Balboni & loving father of Joseph A. Balboni, Jr. and his spouse Ann, and Debra Balboni and her spouse Merle Frissell all of Plymouth. He was the cherished grandfather of Jill, Christopher, Douglas, Jennifer and Johanna; also great-grandfather of Jude. The Funeral will take place on Tuesday morning at 9:15 from the Cartmell Funeral Home, 150 Court St., PLYMOUTH followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Mary's Church in No. Plymouth at 10:00 AM. Friends may call at the Cartmell Funeral Home on Monday from 4-7 PM. Interment will be in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Plymouth. Donations in his memory may be made to Cranberry Hospice, Inc., 36 Cordage Park Cr., Ste 326, Plymouth, MA 02360. For more info or directions http://www.cartmellfuneralhome.com/.