A few weeks ago, we lost our Grandpa. We learned that he had passed away when we arrived at the Dallas airport, in town for my cousin Krista’s wedding. This news wasn’t necessarily unexpected as he had been sick, but I don't think any of us really expected it that day. I went from telling Rylie not to jump on the chairs as we waited for my parents flight to get in to instant tears.
We didn't have a service as Grandpa had requested, instead we spent time together s a family. So this post is dedicated to my Grandpa. This is the Grandpa that I got a chance to know and spend time with…I didn't get that chance with my other Grandpa, Charlie. We were lucky enough to have a lot of family together in Dallas and spent the weekend toasting Grandpa and sharing stories. Some we had heard before and some we hadn’t. We laughed and we cried. So here are some things that I want to remember about my Grandpa, and more important, share with Rylie about her Great Grandpa.
Grandpa was a fighter. He didn't let cancer, diabetes, or triple bypass heart surgery slow him down or stop him from having a good time. He never gave up...even at the end, I don't know if he really accepted it. He definitely had a great life and enjoyed it to its fullest.
Grandpa and Grandma LOVED to dance. When we were younger and stayed with them for a night or a weekend, we would go down to the Commodore, a restaurant in LaCrescent, for dinner and to listen to Jerry play the piano. Grandpa always requested Deep Purple. Patrick and I would dance while Grandpa and Grandma danced. We would walk through the sawdust or sand (or whatever it was) to get some on our shoes just like Grandpa and Grandma. They moved very swiftly and effortlessly around the dance floor. When we would get back to their house, we put music on and Grandma would teach us different dance steps. They liked to listen to all different types of music. They went to Jazz in the Park and followed the Mudcats and Jim B 3. Grandpa loved all of the fests. He went all out for Oktoberfest, collecting all kinds of pins and wearing them on his hat. They would get to Sloopy's before 6am to get a table in front for Tapping of the Golden Can. They never let their age slow them down...they were out and about every weekend.
He got this little smirk or smile when he was happy. You didn't ever see him laugh really hard, but he got a kick out of playing little jokes on us. That's when you might get a little bigger smile out of him. I remember a birthday party for my brother and I where Patrick opened his gift and it was all $1 bills crumpled up to fill the entire box. He just kept pulling them out. Whenever Grandpa and Grandma came to a family gathering- birthday parties or holidays- they always brought fresh baked dinner rolls. One time, they had hidden a raisin in one of the rolls...no one knew this ahead of time, but whoever opened up this roll and found the surprise got $5. This continued for a few family gatherings after that. It was funny things like these- pulling these little pranks- that made Grandpa smile.
For years he drove the cart at the Charlie Kearns Memorial golf outing. And he was always dressed in head to to green...not necessarily matching, but green nonetheless. Once I finished college and started working at the bank, Grandpa opened some accounts over there. And when I was working at Sloopy's, he and Grandma would come in almost every shift I worked to have a couple beers and a pizza...or whatever the special happened to be. They always made time to see me. And once I moved to the Milwaukee area and came home on a weekend, we would head straight to Sloopy's to meet Grandpa and Grandma out for a couple drinks. It kind of became our tradition.
Grandpa loved his numbers. It didn't matter what game they were for or what sport it was for, he had a number for everything. One of his favorite Christmas gifts was the board for about 15 bowl games from my dad. One year, we just didn't know what to get for Grandma, and since she has to sit and watch all of the games with him, we decided to get one for her too. The look on his face said it all. I think he thought she opened the wrong box and pretty much took it out of her hand. When he would win big, he would share. As they got older, we started bringing them to mom and dad's house for Christmas night (we usually spent Christmas Eve with them). They enjoyed watching us open gifts and the best part- the Christmas dinner of Prime Rib and Crab Legs.
At our wedding, I wanted to do the Anniversary dance in honor of my Grandparents because they would be coming up on 60 years of marriage! We danced to What a Wonderful World because that was a song we had danced to at the Commodore and has always reminded me of Grandpa. When it was just Dan & I and Grandpa & Grandma left on the dance floor, the DJ asked them if they had any advice for us. Grandpa said "keep dancin'". One of my favorite moments of the wedding was Grandpa getting out there on the dance floor to a fast song...he wanted to dance with all of his granddaughters. He was in the center of the circle cuttin' a rug with all his girls around him. I knew it would be a moment I would remember.
Grandpa wasn't always the most patient man. He did have his moments and I had seen his temper a few times growing up, but as they got older, Grandma started into the early stages of dementia, which unfortunately runs in the family, and he just seemed to get more and more patient. The Thanksgiving that I was pregnant with Rylie (only about 8 weeks or so), Grandpa was sitting on the couch and patted the seat next to him for Grandma. She sat down and he put his arm around her and said "Well, do you think we'll have another little Erin?" Sure enough :-) I also remember him asking me if Rylie will come out with a tag that says "made in Mexico". Once she was here, he got a big kick out of watching her. I can hear his voice when he would walk in and say "Hiiiii Rylie"....it was a long drawn out "hi"...and a real quick "rylie". He would always say, "Look at those shoes...does that girl have new shoes again?"
Dan was really good about spending time with them as well. He choked down a lot of Special Export silos and pizza rolls that were still cold in the middle. And for anyone that knows Dan, he has to microwave things several times for it to be warm enough for him. We made sure to see them just about every time we were in town. As I got older, I knew it was important because they wouldn't be here forever. And I really wanted Rylie to know them too. Towards the end, we would take Rylie over and to see him smile through the pain, we knew she helped brighten his day.
I knew the visit after he was gone would be a tough one because she was going to ask where he was. And she did just that. I told her that Great Grandpa is in heaven and that she has a very special angel watching out for her. We spent a lot of time with Great Grandma that weekend trying to make her feel better. Rylie did a lot of playing and talking to her. We had meals together and when Great grandma would tell her to eat, she would look right back at her and say "Grandma, eat!" This visit was a few weeks ago. We had planned to go back for Oktoberfest this past weekend, but Rylie was sick, so we are postponing it for a week.
Yesterday Rylie decided she wanted to go see Gamma and Papa. I told her we had to wait until next weekend. She said she wants to see Great Grandma too. There was no mention of Great Grandpa, so I said, "Rylie, where is Great Grandpa?" She said "Great Grandpa in 'heabens'." I said yes he is in heaven and I told her once again that she has a special angel. She continues to amaze me. I can have the worst day of my life and one look at her fixes everything. We are so lucky to still have two Grandma's in our lives and to have great memories of our Grandpa's.
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| Grandpa and Grandma- dance partners for 61 years |
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| Grandpa and all his granddaughters |
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| 60th Anniversary weekend- at Digger's |
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| bowl board |
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| 60th Annversary weekend- at Drugan's |
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| At our rehearsal dinner |
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| Festing at Sloopy's- tapping of the golden can |
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| An oldie- shucking corn with Grandpa |
