Thank you all so much for the kind comments yesterday, even just to say, “It’s okay for that to happen.” I can’t tell you how much it helped. I have gotten through all of today without a tear…which is not to say I don’t care, just that I’m holding it together much better. 
Plus today has been a good, productive busy day (with sunshine! yeah!!!) which also helps to keep me distracted.
I’m going to post some pictures when I get back in town, including ones with little me in them.
I don’t know how much I’ll be checking in, as there will be a lot of family time and family things to do.
It’s nice to remember all kinds of quirky and fun things about my grandpa such as:
- He played guitar and banjo in a band. And in fact, my grandma went to see his band and approached him after the show which is how they met. Tee hee.
- He was a gunner in WWII, and served in the South Pacific. All of my life I have heard stories from him on that experience–he was a great story teller.
- I’ve also heard stories about growing up on the farm, his pet dogs and pet rats (ew), various relatives, and my dad being blue when he was first born (I forget why).
- He kept a journal on his calendars. So every day he would write a tiny diary entry in the day square on the calendar, whether it be an extensive list of errands and visits or something little like “My sweetheart came home today” (when my grandma came home from the hospital after open heart surgery)
- He loved to read and had a mountain of books. Last time I saw him, he had pretty much given up on watching tv and preferred to finish his books in a day or two. I totally inherited that from both him and my mom.
- He loved pudding cups and popcorn shrimp, at least until he ate popcorn shrimp every day for like a month and finally got tired of it.
- I probably have a picture somewhere, but he wore plaid pants all the time when I was younger and they had a plaid couch (that had been my parents’ couch in the 70’s) so visiting him was often an adventure in plaid.
June 18, 2009 at 2:05 pm
He sounds like a great man and just like the kind of man that would be your grandpa. I wish I had meet him.
June 18, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I love how he wrote those daily little notes on his calendar. It’s great to hold onto those sweet memories.
June 19, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I love the popcorn shrimp story.
These are the things we are meant to remember, things that could be no one but this person.
June 21, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Notes on the calendar! My grandma used to do that and when I was a kid I loved to sneak peeks at it. These are all great memories.