List 43 memories of my Grandpa

My Grandparents had the vintage artificial tree. Swathed in thick garland and discordant bulbs, i remember the challenge of packing every inch of available vertical real estate. But nothing was hung until Poppy set all the lights, a process that would begin in the “test” kitchen.

There was a lot of counter space and i can recall him untangling the different sets (indoors & out) along the length of the sunny linoleum. There was much muttering and grumbling as he assessed the unresponsive status and debunked the foul bulbs.

It seemed to take hours as i had no appreciation for the ritual and longed to skip to the jewelry. I could not understand his methods or why it should take so long (series circuitry would come much much later in 8th grade science).

I wonder what he would make of today’s “forever lit” lights or the LEDs in their ghostly blue?

My grandfather struggled with his diabetes the last 25+ years of his life. He wanted to do what was “correct” but the only way he really did was because my grandmother would help him. She really kept him going for many of those years. He didn’t like having that disease.

He’d say garriage (like carriage) for garage & pronounced aluminum as aluminium (with an extra syllable). Also, he’d say nope and yup with a certain inflection – so that they (almost) rhymed – that I can still hear in my mind’s ear. And there were many other special “grandpa words”.... fond smile

When my grandma would ask him, “ice cream or whipped cream on your pie, dear?” my grandpa would inevitably answer:

“Yes”

smile

So I was at a party today and my mom was there talking about artifacts that would be there for people to discover and she mentioned that my grandfather always buried his trash. All of it. Burnt it or buried it. She even said he buried an old washing machine. I remember the barrel outback where he’d burn stuff – but I had no idea he buried things. I’ll have to ask my mom for some more memories. They are cool because they help me remember my grandfather and that is a good thing!

all i want to do is find out who my grandpa was he died with my uncle in a lake when i was a baby and its kinda hard not to think about him

Indiana Beach, a small, old-fashioned amusement park, was our annual vacation destination. My grandpa’s father first started the tradition long before I was born, and it’s continued to this day with my girls representing the 5th generation of my family to realize “there’s more than corn in Indiana.” As a kid, we had so many little traditions weaved into this vacation. The morning of our trip, my grandpa would wake me up by shouting into my room, “does anyone want to go to Indiana Beach today?” The drive over from Illinois was only about two and a half hours long, but we’d always stop half-way and have a picnic lunch. Once at Indiana Beach, we always stayed in the same “Penthouse” suite, rode our favorite rides together, and spent a ridiculous amount of money on Skee Ball. In fact, we’d save our quarters all year just to blow on the game. There were years I resented the trip because I wished we’d spice things up and venture somewhere new, but the fun I had with my grandpa at Indiana Beach will always be some of my best childhood memories.

this goal on hold for the time being; I expect to return to it when I’ve completed my travel.

with my grandparents for a couple of years, during my teens, I got to know more of their little idiosyncracies than I had during previous years’ shorter visits. Tonight I’m remembering how my grandfather would always – always – declare, with a straight face, when caught snoozing, that he had not in fact been sleeping, merely “inspecting my eyelids.” smile

http://www.43things.com/entries/view/3979788

is a poem “about” (based on memories of) my grandfather. smile