"Grandpa's Gone" lyrics

He didn't have a beard like Santa, but his cheeks were just as red
He'd light up a pipe and smile, kiss me off to bed
Say, "No matter what, I love you until the day I'm dead"
Now it sure don't feel like Christmas

He's the one who spiked the eggnog, who cut the tree we chose
He's the one who tested out the ice, made sure the pond froze
And pulled us from that snowy ditch on Quarry Chapel Road
With his tractor, just in time for Christmas

There's a place set at the table for the one we recall
The one who hung the Christmas star, the one who decked the halls
Who showed us how to love and how in giving we receive
And I miss him most of all on Christmas Eve
And it still feels wrong
Having Christmas now that Grandpa's gone

He dragged our coasters up the hill, showed me how to build a fire
Always kept me ten feet back from the turkey fryer
And he beamed at me from the pews when I sang in Junior Choir
I can hear him singing "White Christmas"

There's a place set at the table for the one we recall
The one who hung the Christmas star, the one who decked the halls
He showed us how to love and how in giving we receive
And I miss him most of all on Christmas Eve
And it still feels wrong
Having Christmas now that Grandpa's gone

And he was battle-scarred, and sometimes he could be
A little more "Silent Night" than "O Christmas Tree"
And that shrapnel in his leg helped me to see
That some gave more than presents on Epiphany

Now there's a place set at the table for the one we recall
The one who hung the Christmas star, the one who decked the halls
He showed us how to love and how in giving we receive
He snuck downstairs at 4 a.m. to fill up our stockings
He cupped the light of Christmas and he kindled it for me
And I miss him most of all on Christmas Eve
And it still feels wrong
Having Christmas now that Grandpa's gone