A couple of months ago my husband said to me, "You share a lot of memories of your Grandpa but never really tell me stories of you Grandma." It made me think to myself for a minute about why I really didn't bring up stories of my Grandma. It may be because she is still with us and because he passed it makes me remember the good times I had with him. I am not sure which of the two brings my memories up. A lot of things remind me of him every day.
My Grandpa was tall and skinny, he had completely white hair with a white handlebar mustache, both had a tint of yellow due to smoking. He had sky blue eyes, my brother may have gotten his eyes from him. At least that is what I like to think. He had a big nose with a pretty big hook to it and big ears. He always had darker arms, face, and neck, almost with a red hue. My grandpa had false teeth on the top and only three of his own teeth left on the bottom. He said he didn't want to wear his teeth on the bottom because they hurt too much. I only have seen my Grandpa crack a smile a couple of times while growing up. He did look mean. He would be cordial to people but never go out of his way to say hello to anyone. But to me, he was a good man. He was the best man, and only Father I knew.
What people didn't know was behind the rough exterior he was a very kind man that got a kick out of goofy things and didn't mind having me around. I think my Grandpa kept an eye on me and made sure I was going to turn out "OK" because I looked just like my Mom and to my Grandpa, her daughter was going to make it. That is what I believe anyway.
I would tag around outside with my Grandpa when I was done with doing my chores in the house on the weekends and most of the summer if I was not playing in the river, fishing, climbing trees, or playing with the kids across the road or my friend Kristy who lived about a mile away. I would play out in the by the barn and sometimes during the fall, I would help stack wood. My Grandpa would have me hold out my arms and he would stack some wood in my arms. He would remind me of the "right way" of stacking wood.
My Grandpa was a minor league baseball player in Alpena when they had a minor league team. He was left-handed, batted right-handed, and played first base. He loved baseball, he loved watching baseball even when the Tigers couldn't get a hit.
When you take a man that knew baseball inside and out and give him all girls and one granddaughter, he didn't have a boy who played baseball so when he heard my uncle was going to coach a Boys & Girls softball team he signed me up! I remember waiting in line at the boys and girls club to sign up. I had never been to the club before. I remember (and still have) my first glove. I can't remember how it was bought. Either he bought it and brought it home to me, or we went together. I do remember it was too big and he said, it is OK, it will last you. I remember us being at home, and he had the glove and told me to go get the vaseline. We had to lube up the glove and put the ball in the pocket. He tied a string around the glove with the ball in the pocket and I had to sleep on top of it under my mattress. I had to check on the glove, re-lube the glove, and then turn it inside out and sleep on it that way also. It had to be "nice and soft"
My Grandpa was tall and skinny, he had completely white hair with a white handlebar mustache, both had a tint of yellow due to smoking. He had sky blue eyes, my brother may have gotten his eyes from him. At least that is what I like to think. He had a big nose with a pretty big hook to it and big ears. He always had darker arms, face, and neck, almost with a red hue. My grandpa had false teeth on the top and only three of his own teeth left on the bottom. He said he didn't want to wear his teeth on the bottom because they hurt too much. I only have seen my Grandpa crack a smile a couple of times while growing up. He did look mean. He would be cordial to people but never go out of his way to say hello to anyone. But to me, he was a good man. He was the best man, and only Father I knew.
What people didn't know was behind the rough exterior he was a very kind man that got a kick out of goofy things and didn't mind having me around. I think my Grandpa kept an eye on me and made sure I was going to turn out "OK" because I looked just like my Mom and to my Grandpa, her daughter was going to make it. That is what I believe anyway.
I would tag around outside with my Grandpa when I was done with doing my chores in the house on the weekends and most of the summer if I was not playing in the river, fishing, climbing trees, or playing with the kids across the road or my friend Kristy who lived about a mile away. I would play out in the by the barn and sometimes during the fall, I would help stack wood. My Grandpa would have me hold out my arms and he would stack some wood in my arms. He would remind me of the "right way" of stacking wood.
My Grandpa was a minor league baseball player in Alpena when they had a minor league team. He was left-handed, batted right-handed, and played first base. He loved baseball, he loved watching baseball even when the Tigers couldn't get a hit.
When you take a man that knew baseball inside and out and give him all girls and one granddaughter, he didn't have a boy who played baseball so when he heard my uncle was going to coach a Boys & Girls softball team he signed me up! I remember waiting in line at the boys and girls club to sign up. I had never been to the club before. I remember (and still have) my first glove. I can't remember how it was bought. Either he bought it and brought it home to me, or we went together. I do remember it was too big and he said, it is OK, it will last you. I remember us being at home, and he had the glove and told me to go get the vaseline. We had to lube up the glove and put the ball in the pocket. He tied a string around the glove with the ball in the pocket and I had to sleep on top of it under my mattress. I had to check on the glove, re-lube the glove, and then turn it inside out and sleep on it that way also. It had to be "nice and soft"
I still have that glove and have played with it last season when someone needed a glove. Still works as well as it did 38/39years ago.
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