Today is my grandpa's birthday. My grandpa was a great man. No, he did not perform any extraordinary feats. He did not have a noble profession, he did not drive a fancy vehicle, he did not live in a big, fancy home on a hill, but that's okay with me. My grandpa worked in a meat packing plant for most of his days. He drove a very old Ford stick-shift pick-up for a very long time and the house I often visited, he lived in for over 50 years with my grandma.
There, in that house, he could sit for long periods of time listening to Johnny and June Carter Cash. At the dining room table, he would do word search puzzles while sipping on a Diet Coke. Often, in the summer, we would pull in the driveway, and there he would be sitting in a lawn chair, just watching the world roll by. If I could go back, I would ask him what he thought about when he sat there. I would ask him if he talked to God.
When I was a kid spending the night, my grandparents usually made us go to bed when they did, which was EARLY! I would struggle to fall asleep. Sometimes I would still be awake when one of them had to get up to hit the bathroom. Grandpa would often come check on us. I would see it, the flashlight would suddenly light up the dark that my eyes had adjusted to. Soon, I would feel him pulling the blanket up close around my shoulders. Back then, I thought it was annoying, now, I'd give anything to be that kid again.
In 9th grade, we were given the dreaded Grandparent Report. First off, I did not want to single out ONE grandparent to do a report on, but it had to be done. I finally chose Grandpa. Yeah, it started off awkward; I did not want to do this! After a while, I relished the fact that I got to ask him questions. I was beginning to learn things about him that I had never known before. Yeah, I knew he had been in World War 2, but I hadn't known that he was there the day they stormed the beaches-his boat got called back, so thankfully he didn't have to officially storm the beaches. I hadn't known that he saw the Eiffel Tower or had been to Germany. I learned about that little statue of a little boy going to the bathroom that sat on a shelf in their home. I do some day want to visit Brussels to see this
famous fountain.
After my grandpa died and we had the house cleaned out, my mom took his clothes to be made into bears. Now, all of us grandkids and great-grandkids have a bear dressed like Grandpa that we can hold close when we miss him the most. My niece took hers to school a couple of weeks ago when she had to write about soemthing that meant a lot to her. Yep, that bear represents a lot.
My bear's name is Leroy.
As Grandpa always said upon leaving his house, "I'll see ya in the funny pages!"
