Elegy for my Grandpa

Daniel Francis Alves Jr.
5.12.1941 — 2.10.2022

The cherry blossom trees
that aren’t cherry blossom
trees are in bloom. Spring
is upon us and the Earth
has become undeniably colorful
the weather temperate, the days
changing, you leaving.
Your family grieving as we
try to figure out how to say
goodbye, to navigate this life
in your absence. I’m struggling
to understand the vacillating
boundary between life and death,
because while you’re physically
out of reach, you live on in those you
raised, those you inspired,
and in the world that you made a better
place. I’m considering the possibility
that I’m not supposed to understand,
that I’m just supposed to remember.
How you made my life happier,
how you brought me laughter,
encouragement, sarcasm—
the list of things you brought
to my life is innumerable.
I will carry with me the lessons
you taught until the end
of time, the most important
of which being the singular
value that you embodied
completely: unconditional love.
And so that’s how I want to honor you
today— with my unconditional love
of you, and the amazing life
that you lived, and the infinite
good that you brought
to the world and everyone
you encountered.

I love you
until infinity ends.

Christin Karr is a proud dog mom. She was awarded several scholarships and awards during her undergraduate studies at Utah Valley University and Pepperdine University. She graduated from Pepperdine in May of 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing as Valedictorian of her class. She then received a fellowship to attend the University of San Francisco as a Master of Fine Arts student with an emphasis in fiction where she presently studies. Her education has provided her with many opportunities to work with established writers including Pulitzer Prize winners whose work she hopes to emulate.