Grandpa and his catch

Grandpa and his guitar, probably at a family gathering

My Grandfather is still living at the time I write this 11/06/05. I wanted to write these things down before God called him home and time faded the memories. As I remember other things, I will add them here.

These are the earliest memories of my Grandpa are smells. The first smell I remember is Juicy Fruit Gum. He always had a pack in his pocket and smelled sweet from the gum he carried. If he forgot to have a pack, we'd get carried to his bedroom where he would pull a pack out for us from his top dresser drawer. The other smell I strongly associate with my Grandfather (and also my father) is freshly cut wood. Grandpa had a wood workshop where he turned out many beautiful pieces of furniture and household decorative items. I have many pieces of his throughout my home. The other smell I associate with my Grandpa, expecially during my younger years, is fish. It seems he was always down at the pier fishing or cleaning fish he had just caught.

Grandpa was a quiet man not given to much useless speech. Often, when talking with him, I could see him thinking before he spoke, weighing his words carefully. I never saw him angry and do not remember him ever raising his voice. He was gifted in music and could play just about any instrument you laid into his hands. He had a wide collection of instruments hanging on his wall as you entered their home from the side door.

He had a fascination with whimsical items and had a small collection of toys that people bought for him or he bought for himself. You could always find something neat of Grandpa's to intrigue your imagination. I saw my first drinking bird, hygrometer, barometer, rain gauge, birdhouse gourd, etc in my Grandpa's house.

Grandpa frequently rode his bicycle around his backyard. I think he did this in his later years to show us that he still could.

When I was little, he kept a racoon in a pen behind his woodshop. I would go out there and look at it.

One year he told me he wanted a chicken for a pet. He told me stories about pet chickens he had heard of or known personally. So, I went to a pet store and bought him a bantam chick which later turned out to be a rooster. Grandpa adored the rooster and got it a mate. They had many offspring, some of which, I brought to my farm when I moved. I have a picture of him kissing the rooster!

The one time my Grandpa tickled me the most was when he said his first and only cuss word in front of me. I had never heard him cuss before so it took me aback. I look back now and realize he relaxed a little after my 18th birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa both went a little overboard on feeding the ducks at their pier. It started out with just a few and ended up with hundreds. You could stand there and look in every direction and see no ducks whatsoever. As soon as you sprinkled a handful of grain on the ground, a flock of ducks would descend. The first few times we fed the ducks with them, there were only a few dozen. That first feeding where hundreds of ducks descended all around you was a bit overwhelming! They fed a very large flock of them for a good many years. Clint and I would take them a bag of feed now and then.

Grandpa was always hanging out bird feeders. I can remember suet, seed and nectar for the hummingbirds.

One of Grandpa's favorite drinks was a Dr. Pepper. I can remember my Uncle Sam bringing him Dr. Peppers. Uncle Sam like them too. So did my mother. When Clint and I were married and would visit, we would take him a case of Dr. Pepper to put in his fridge.

Grandpa loved twinkies and peaches after his meals. He also liked for his meals to be served on time every day. As Grandma battled health problems as she aged, Grandpa surprised everyone by cooking for both of them.

I can remember Grandpa playing horseshoes with the men at the family reunions.

Grandpa told me he was proud of me staying home with my children, that I was doing a good job raising them and teaching them about Jesus and also felt that having a large family was better for the children. I nearly cried. This was one of the compliments I cherish the most because no one had ever given me any sort of positive feedback on my role as a mother before. Thanks Pop!

Grandpa told me his testimony one day when we were sitting alone in the swing behind his house. He told me that when he was younger, he drank very heavily and led a rough life. I know from other family members that he also hit on Grandma and his children. They have told me he was a "mean drunk." One night Grandpa was so drunk, he could not drive home. He woke up in his car and did not know how he had got to be pulled off beside the road. It scared him, he told me. He said he prayed and asked God to get him home safely and he would never drink again. That was when he quit drinking and became a Christian.