“Poppa’s Dime” (drama) 2 minutes

Character: JOSEPH
Description:  Joseph recalls what the meaning of finding a dime faced up on the ground means to him.
Gender: Male
Age:  28  

The day my grandfather died, he found a dime faced heads up on the ground and gave it to me and said that it was good luck.  I still have the dime.  It was the day of my communion party and my grandpa was walking me to the church.  It was just him and me.  He always walked with his head down and was always finding things of value on the ground.  I’ll never forget when he gave me the dime, he had a sparkle in his eyes and a happy smile.

Later that night, at the party, he had a massive heart attack that ended his life.  I watched him die and it left an impression on me.  It’s when I became conscious about the meaning of death and what life was all about.  I was only nine years old at the time. 

I ran off to the bathroom and when I came back, it wasn’t to seeing happy faces and good times, it was to caous and madness.  People were running around every which way and I saw my grandmother jumping up and down screaming, “Somebody get an ambulance, PLEASE”.  Those words still echo in my mind when I think about it…

I looked over to my right and I saw people running back and forth but amongst the craziness of it all, a moment passed when I was able to look directly across the dance floor and see my grandpa sitting in a chair unconscious.  He was receiving mouth to mouth from my father and my cousin Joey.  I watched as my father wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to save his father’s life.

I couldn’t move and I screamed up to God, “POPPAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”  It was then that my mother and two aunts came running over to me and picked me up from the floor.  I fought them off because I was trying to get to my grandfather.  All I wanted to do was hug him and tell him I loved him.  But I couldn’t get to him because I was overpowered by three strong women.  I stared at my grandpa as they carried me off the dance floor and out into the lobby of the restaurant. 

I remember seeing his gaze at me as I gazed back into his eyes and watched as the doors closed shut on me.

So, whenever I see a dime faced up, I know it’s my Poppa, telling me hello and telling me that he loves me.