Summary

With an image of his grandfather's peculiar bow-tie, the narrator relates one of his earliest memories of his grandfather during a visit on the beach. He recalls the particular way in which the man sat on the sand in his navy-blue suit, a white shirt, cuff-links, and a fedora, all worn despite the heat. His grandfather took off his cuff links meticulously, along with removing the jacket. As he played with the sand, the narrator saw his grandfather's impressive stature and eventually gazed on when he began to put his clothes on, the jacket, and cuff links, as the weather got colder. He noticed the way his grandfather walked, like a soldier, hurrying along in an attempt to catch a train as he left the beach. The next memory is witnessing his grandfather crying as he looked at a painting of a...