Memories of Grandpa W.

Sorry, I am going to do one more sappy post, then I will get back to my regular ones.  This was originally going to be a private post, but what the hell. . . I don’t care if you all see, and I thought my family might enjoy it.  (Some of the spacing might be messed up, as I still having figured out how to fix this on a Mac.  Someday. . . )

My grandpa was a character.  I scanned in over 100 pictures of him, and I didn’t find too many where he wasn’t laughing or didn’t have his mouth open.  He loved to talk, loved to laugh, was loud, and was FUN!

What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico. D-runk.

Here are the things I will remember and most appreciate about Grandpa W. . .

Whenever he took a drink of coffee, he would say “Aah boy, aah boy, aah boy” in a quiet, raspy voice.  My sister and I loved this. . . and first really took notice of this when we went on a camping trip with my grandparents in the motorhome. . . and would hear this every morning from the kitchen.  I also remember that he would always let me sit on his lap after dinner and drink coffee from his cup from a spoon.  I didn’t really like the coffee, yet I did this all the time.

Birthday time in my grandparent's kitchen!

We went to my grandparents’ house for dinner at least one night a week. when we were young. . . and then we started going to the Villager Cafe’ (which their niece, Kathy owned) one night a week.  Mom was taking college classes at night then, so it would be Dad, Sarah, my grandparents, and Mr. Jones “Jonesy” (a friend of the family) that would eat together.  Jonesy came to Grandpa’s visitation, which was cool. . . because I probably haven’t seen him in twelve years or more.

Grandpa with Grandma's cousins, the Meisters, who he loved seeing!. . . and Great Aunt Ina Mae and Great Uncle Paul. . . and Lori, our waitress!

I’ll remember laugh, and the fact that he would yell “HEY!”, anytime you walked into a room and he was seeing you for the first time, and punch you in the arm or something.  This is my nearly-three year old cousin Garrett’s most frequently used word and the first thing he yells when he sees you. . . and I wonder if this is partly Grandpa’s influence!

Garrett and Grandpa

Grandpa sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in Spanish. . . I thought he told us he learned that in the service, but now I’m not sure.

His love for the Illini, Cardinals, and John Wayne.  There was ALWAYS a game on at their house. . . or an old Western.  He LOVED John Wayne.  If it weren’t for him, I probably would have never watched a John Wayne movie. . . I’ve watched numerous movies. . . and slept through a few of them, I think.  😉

Grandpa admiring a John Wayne statue he got as a birthday gift. 🙂

Grandpa loved travel and instilled this love in his family.  They bought several motorhomes and traveled constantly.  My mom, aunts, and uncle took some amazing trips at a young age. . . and I think Mom has seen every state other than Alaska (and probably had seen much of the country before she was even in high school). . . Grandpa and Grandma have been to every state, I think.  Grandma and Grandpa took my sis and I to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and camp in the Black Hills when we were young.  This was one of my only trips driving through the West. . . and Sarah and I crossed many states off our list during this trip. . . as we came back a different way than we took on the way there. . . and we kept a list (The rule for it to count as visiting that state is to get OUT of the car and at least touch your foot to the ground.  I am still kinda shocked that Grandpa agreed to stop in every state we went to!!!)  My parents were awesome about this, too. . . and we drove all over the place as kids and I’ve seen 41 of the 50 states!  (Yes, I still had to get out of the car for those to count!)

I am SO MAD that we don't have a picture from our trip out West. . . so I'll post a random one. Ironically, an RV magazine shot a picture of the four of us during that trip and put it on the cover, but I never saw it.

My grandparents retired to Florida and lived there during the winters for many years.  We would go see them every other Christmas. . . and once, Jess and I went to see them for a Spring Break.  We have many fun memories spending time with my grandparents, going on walks, going to dinner, going to the beach on those trips. . . but my favorite memory was when Grandpa and I went on a walk one day. . . and I found a tree with “tiny oranges”. . . turns out, this was a kumquat.  We picked on, and we said we’d try and eat one when we got home. . . WELL, this was apparently VERY SOUR.  I will never, ever, ever forget grandpa’s face after he peeled it and bit into it.  I think it was so sour, that he yelled a curse word.  Toooo funny.

Picture from our Spring Break trip

My grandpa was soooooo stubborn.  Ridiculous.  He once tried to lift a Schwinn Air Dyne into the attic (little fold-down stairs) by HIMSELF. . . it fell back on him, broke his jaw, and he had to have his jaw wired shut for quite a while.  I cried myself to sleep about this for a week, as it was so sad for me to see my grandpa unable to laugh and to talk.

Two characters--My grandpa and my sister

Grandpa generally kept a GREAT attitude with this horrible disease he had.  Even though he’s naturally stubborn and independent, he did so well with everything.  He always managed to laugh, when I would look at him and want to cry.

My grandparents had motorhomes nicer than our houses.  The last one they had was SO BEAUTIFUL.  Yes, this was the “camping” that I grew up with!  My sister and I LOVED going with my grandparents to get the motorhome ready before camping trips.  The first thing Sarah and I would always do would be to look for all of the secret compartments in it.  Also, the motorhome had all these cool horns.  It could play these songs. . . very loudly. . . so Grandpa would not play them too often. . . but whenever we would get on the road, he would play “On the Road Again”. . . He often played the “Budweiser” song. . . and if it was our birthday when we were on a trip, he would play “Happy Birthday.”. .  I think it was Sarah’s birthday on one of our trips.

The beautiful motorhome. . . my version of "camping"!

I made my first and only fishing attempt with Grandpa W.  It was terrible.  Sar, Mom, and I did not catch ANYTHING. . . and I don’t think Grandpa was responsible, but we broke TWO fishing poles we borrowed from Grandpa C.  CLEARLY, we have no skills!  I remember Mom and I just laughing and laughing because we looked so stupid.  🙂

Grandpa and I fishing

My grandparents went to the Ribeye (steak restaurant) every Saturday.  They had the same waitress every week, who loved them.  Lori, our waitress, and Grandpa were ALWAYS joking around.  The bartender, the owners, and others would come over each night they were there to say hi to them.  The Ribeye does not take reservations, but my grandparents had standing reservations for a million years.  All of our family dinners for birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated there, and we have hundreds of pictures to document.  Lori would not really take our orders. . . she would just say, “The usual, for all of you?”  Our kitty cocktails would come with eight cherries, b/c they knew we loved the cherries.  Dad feels slighted because Sarah and I always went more than he did, and the staff knew us by name and face, too.  🙂

Part of the fam at the Ribeye

I scanned hundreds of pictures, but my favorite were the ones of Gma and Gpa dating. . . and the ones of Grandpa in the Army.  So amazing.

Grandpa is in the middle with the crooked helmet. 🙂

He wrote this on the picture! HA! He wrote on the back of nearly ALL these pictures that he sent to Grandma. What a treasure.

My favorite

School Days

I’ll cherish these memories and pictures forever!  I’ll miss you, Grandpa!