Grandpa

My mom called tonight to let me know Grandpa was not doing so well. She thinks he only has a few more days left. I guess he hasn't eaten in the past 4 days & had a very high fever for the past couple days.

Some of my best childhood memories happened while I stayed with Grandpa & Grandma. My parents would drive me down to Michigan City, IN for a few weeks in the summer to stay with them. I always kept myself busy because my cousins lived next door and we would always hang out together. We would either be by their pool swimming or heading down to the mini putt course down the street where my dad once worked at when he was a kid. We would always get free buckets of balls for the driving range. It may not seem like much but when you're 12 that’s like someone handing you a hundred dollar bill. On a few occasions Grandpa & I (along with a few other relatives) would go perch fishing on lake Michigan. Sometimes we would come back with a couple dozen and sometimes a couple hundred. Grandpa always enjoyed fishing. I remember in 8th grade woodshop class we had to make our final project. A lot of kids ended up making clocks but the first thing I thought of was making him a fishing rod holder. He still has that fishing rod holder to this day.

I’ll always remember Grandpa as a handyman. He was always in the garage fixing something. That’s just what Grandpa did. If something needed to be fixed he would be the first person you would call. He would try to fix it first and if he couldn’t fix it he would try a second time and if he still could not fix it he would try again but this time he might think about buying a new one before trying a fourth time. That was just the way he was.

I’m very happy Grandpa was well enough to come to our wedding and also my sisters wedding just a few months before he became ill. It means a lot to me to have those memories & to see Grandpa happy. I know he is not happy right now being bed ridden & sick but he will be once he passes and gets to see Grandma again.

He will be missed.