Grandparents.

[Bugman]

My maternal and paternal grandparents all died before I was born or when I was very young, and the only one I have any memory of is my maternal grandmother. I did grow up with a set of "adopted" grandparents, Smitty and Rosie. He was a crusty old man of German heritage with a heart of gold beneath the surface who owned a barber shop in their small town and was something of a political force in the county. Rosie was straight out of Norman Rockwell with her white hair, rosy cheeks and flour stained apron. They owned a home on a small lake with a dock for his row boat. I loved visiting them. Rosie always had a freshbaked treat on hand, I could fish off the dock or jump into the lake for a swim, they had toys on hand if the weather was bad and Smitty would tell me about his hunting and fishing trips to Montana, Wyoming and Canada. They have long since passed on, but those memories will remain with me as long as I live. I still miss them, and that simpler time in life.

Anyone care to share memories of grandparents? I hope they are happy ones. 🙂

 

[Gothika]

my grandparents were great people they helped us out a ton when i was young they owned a auction house and delt in antiques i remember going too there house every christmas eve and having dinner with the family they worked very hard they passed on way to soon and i miss them much

 

[Persephone]

I believe I was and still am VERY blessed in the grandparents department.

I am the youngest grandchild on my dad's side of the family. My grandma passed away when I was eleven months old, but I was told she really did love me (and my sister who was almost 3 at the time) VERY much. We were the first young grandbabies she had had in a LONG time...since all our cousins were already 15 years and older. However my grandfather is still alive and recently we had to put him into a nursing home which was hard...but he needed the care (he is 92 years old!) He owned his own farm when I was growing up and I have great memories of playing hide and seek in the corn fields, helping him stir the HUGE cauldron (seriously he had this BIG ass cauldron) when he made apple butter every fall. I used to love watching old Westerns on television with him...and episodes of Andy Griffith. There is also nothing I enjoyed (and still enjoy immensely) then listening to stories about his youth. My grandaddy was born in 1919 and grew up in what is now Shenandoah National Park and lived there until he was almost 17 and then was forced to move out when FDR declared all those mountainous areas as a national park. Hearing his stories about the Great Depression, WWII, etc. are a wonderful treat. He has had SO much life experience it's amazing.

My dad also has an older sister (20 years older than him) who've I have ALWAYS loved (and called) Grandma because she's always treated me as one of her grandchildren, because I didn't have a grandma growing up. Her and my uncle (who I also call Grandaddy) are some of the kindest people I have ever known. They are both alive, thriving, and kicking. Growing up I would go to their house every Sunday and Thursday for dinner. We were (and still are) extremely close and nothing makes me happier than visiting them, spending holidays together, etc. They had a great house out in the country and my childhood was spent playing in the HUGE open fields around their house, exploring the woods and hills nearby, swimming, and having a very blessed childhood.

My mom's parents were both alive and involved in my life as well. They are both completely different than my dad's family, because they own a house in a busier city here in VA. My grandfather used to own a men's clothing store and every time we'd go to visit him we would sneak in the back door and surprise him in his office and he always loved it! Many wonderful summer memories are from spending time down at the beach with them when I was a kid. My grandfather is the one who instilled in me a love for history and especially a love and interest in my own family history and heritage. My grandmother was the sweetest and kindest woman ever to walk this planet. She suffered from MS (multiple sclerosis) the entire time I was growing up, and even despite that she was the best grandmother she could be. She was always cheerful, had a smile, a hug, and a kiss for me and my sister. It sounds cheesy but some of the best memories I have are surprising my grandma after church and taking her to Denny's...there was nothing she loved more than having a Sunday brunch at Denny's with the family. She was the first grandparent I've ever lost...she died in May 2010 due to complications from her MS and that was one of the hardest moments in my life. I have never cried so hard as I did at my grandmother's funeral...but I like to think she is in a happier place now and not in pain anymore

Sorry this was so long...but there is definitely a HUGE place in my heart for my grandparents. They definitely helped mold me into the person I am today and I want nothing more than to emulate them because they are the most wonderful people I've ever had the blessed chance to know and love 🙂

 

[Bugman]

my grandparents were great people they helped us out a ton when i was young they owned a auction house and delt in antiques i remember going too there house every christmas eve and having dinner with the family they worked very hard they passed on way to soon and i miss them much

Sounds like they had a great life, owning an auction house and dealing with all the amazing things they must have come across. I'm sorry they are gone, but cherish the memories my friend,

I believe I was and still am VERY blessed in the grandparents department.

I am the youngest grandchild on my dad's side of the family. My grandma passed away when I was eleven months old, but I was told she really did love me (and my sister who was almost 3 at the time) VERY much. We were the first young grandbabies she had had in a LONG time...since all our cousins were already 15 years and older. However my grandfather is still alive and recently we had to put him into a nursing home which was hard...but he needed the care (he is 92 years old!) He owned his own farm when I was growing up and I have great memories of playing hide and seek in the corn fields, helping him stir the HUGE cauldron (seriously he had this BIG ass cauldron) when he made apple butter every fall. I used to love watching old Westerns on television with him...and episodes of Andy Griffith. There is also nothing I enjoyed (and still enjoy immensely) then listening to stories about his youth. My grandaddy was born in 1919 and grew up in what is now Shenandoah National Park and lived there until he was almost 17 and then was forced to move out when FDR declared all those mountainous areas as a national park. Hearing his stories about the Great Depression, WWII, etc. are a wonderful treat. He has had SO much life experience it's amazing.

My dad also has an older sister (20 years older than him) who've I have ALWAYS loved (and called) Grandma because she's always treated me as one of her grandchildren, because I didn't have a grandma growing up. Her and my uncle (who I also call Grandaddy) are some of the kindest people I have ever known. They are both alive, thriving, and kicking. Growing up I would go to their house every Sunday and Thursday for dinner. We were (and still are) extremely close and nothing makes me happier than visiting them, spending holidays together, etc. They had a great house out in the country and my childhood was spent playing in the HUGE open fields around their house, exploring the woods and hills nearby, swimming, and having a very blessed childhood.

My mom's parents were both alive and involved in my life as well. They are both completely different than my dad's family, because they own a house in a busier city here in VA. My grandfather used to own a men's clothing store and every time we'd go to visit him we would sneak in the back door and surprise him in his office and he always loved it! Many wonderful summer memories are from spending time down at the beach with them when I was a kid. My grandfather is the one who instilled in me a love for history and especially a love and interest in my own family history and heritage. My grandmother was the sweetest and kindest woman ever to walk this planet. She suffered from MS (multiple sclerosis) the entire time I was growing up, and even despite that she was the best grandmother she could be. She was always cheerful, had a smile, a hug, and a kiss for me and my sister. It sounds cheesy but some of the best memories I have are surprising my grandma after church and taking her to Denny's...there was nothing she loved more than having a Sunday brunch at Denny's with the family. She was the first grandparent I've ever lost...she died in May 2010 due to complications from her MS and that was one of the hardest moments in my life. I have never cried so hard as I did at my grandmother's funeral...but I like to think she is in a happier place now and not in pain anymore

Sorry this was so long...but there is definitely a HUGE place in my heart for my grandparents. They definitely helped mold me into the person I am today and I want nothing more than to emulate them because they are the most wonderful people I've ever had the blessed chance to know and love 🙂

No need to be sorry, this is a wonderful post I've enjoyed reading. Sad that your grandfather had to be put in a home but what an incredile life he has lived. It is people like this who built America. I salute him.

 

[Persephone]

No need to be sorry, this is a wonderful post I've enjoyed reading. Sad that your grandfather had to be put in a home but what an incredile life he has lived. It is people like this who built America. I salute him.

Thanks Buggy! He did work so hard his entire life...he was a carpenter and farmer his entire life. He never got an education beyond about the fourth grade. He ALWAYS instilled in my sister and I the value of hard work...but how education would open doors for us and he wanted more for us than such a country, small town life like he had. He always said he wanted us to see and experience the world out there that he never got to see.

 

[TropicThunder]

I was raised by my grandfather from birth. He was my father figure. It definitely did me good learning so many lessons from him about respect and love. He was incredibly strict, disciplined often, and was very "scary" No one in my family ever dared cross him. He was the head of the household. He would sit at the end of the table during every holiday dinner and carve the turkey. I used to crawl into his bed late at night and we would watch shows like Law & Order. He never drove me anywhere because I had two perfectly good feet. I used to get up early and make his morning coffee and bring it to him. He encouraged everything I did. He fed my passion for reading by introducing me to so many new authors, including my favourite author, John Sandford. He bought me my first guitar. He was the only one who was enthusiastic when I was fifteen and said I was going to join the army one day. He took care of me every day of my life.


He died when I was sixteen, on Christmas Eve. He caught a cold, which turned into pnuemonia and he passed away in less than 24 hours. My room was next to his, and I woke up that morning to him calling for my mother. He was babbling incoherently, and didn't seem to recognize me. He had to be taken to emergency in a town 20 minutes away. He passed away in his room once he was settled, before any of my family could reach the hospital.

Christmas has never been the same for me since.

 

[goddess_nemesis]

My maternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer nine years before I was born so I never had a chance to know the woman who raised my mom. It's why I support breast cancer research and search for a cure.

I was never close to my maternal grandfather. He was already 70 when I was born so growing up, we would visit him nearly every day after swim classes during the summer until he was moved to a nursing home. For a little kid, it was scary as hell because we couldn't understand a word he'd say and his house was filled with cuckoo clocks and his wife's dolls and it reeked of old people. Then my step-grandmother past away and eventually he moved into a nursing home, and we saw him about once a month until he past away in 2003. And going by the stories I've heard growing up, he was an asshole.

The only grandparents I really knew/know was/is my paternal grandparents. I wasn't that close to my paternal grandpa, but I knew him well because my dad's side of the family often got together for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. When he past away in 2005, it was tough.

All I have left is my paternal grandmother and I'm sure she'll be around for a long time. She's just too stubborn to die, even though every year she says it might be her last and we keep telling her "bullshit". Lol. She's 75 and she easily could have another 10 or 20 years left. She can be embarrassing at times, but she's always been there for her family. She's our rock.

I also have an adopted grandmother, a woman who was good friends with my maternal grandmother and was a like a second mother to my mom. I've always known her as Grandma Carol, even though I don't know her very well because we rarely saw each other since she lives in the Black Hills, but she treated us like grandchildren, going as far as sending birthday cards and gifts. I'll never forget my 12th birthday; it was my golden birthday and she had sent me a black hills gold necklace with a heart. I thought my golden birthday was special because I was turning 12 on the 12th and she made it special.

 

[Flatfoot]

Only one of my grandparents was still alive when I was born, and he died while I was still very young. He was my grandfather on my dad's side of the family. The only thing I really remember about him was how we'd visit him in Texas, and my parents would look forward to eating out at a nice, authentic Tex-Mex restaurant, but he'd wanna take us to Whataburger. He wasn't a cheapskate, or anything. He just really loved Whataburger. 😛

 

[Bugman]

Thanks Buggy! He did work so hard his entire life...he was a carpenter and farmer his entire life. He never got an education beyond about the fourth grade. He ALWAYS instilled in my sister and I the value of hard work...but how education would open doors for us and he wanted more for us than such a country, small town life like he had. He always said he wanted us to see and experience the world out there that he never got to see.

Next time you visit, tell him Buggy from Texas says thank you. Well, just tell him someone you know wishes him well.

As I mentioned, the only grandparent I remember is my maternal grandmother. She came out to Kansas from Illinois as an infant in a Conestoga wagon, the wagon that helped settle the American West. After my father returned from WWII in 1946 he and my mother built their first house. After grandfather died an apartment was added and she lived with us. At the time my parents had a garden and chicken coop in the back yard. I remember sitting on the front porch with grandmother, "helping" to shuck peas and corn and plucking chickens. Chickens who didn't produce enough eggs ended up on the dinner table.

By the time I was born the Davy Crockett craze spawned by the Disney series King of the Wild Frontier had faded but I'd seen it in reruns and had a cookskin cap passed down from an older brother. I would put the cap on her head and we would sing the theme song.

 

[Persephone]

Next time you visit, tell him Buggy from Texas says thank you. Well, just tell him someone you know wishes him well.

As I mentioned, the only grandparent I remember is my maternal grandmother. She came out to Kansas from Illinois as an infant in a Conestoga wagon, the wagon that helped settle the American West. After my father returned from WWII in 1946 he and my mother built their first house. After grandfather died an apartment was added and she lived with us. At the time my parents had a garden and chicken coop in the back yard. I remember sitting on the front porch with grandmother, "helping" to shuck peas and corn and plucking chickens. Chickens who didn't produce enough eggs ended up on the dinner table.

I was born after the Davy Crockett craze spawned by the Disney series King of the Wild Frontier had faded but had seen it in reruns and had a cookskin cap passed down from an older brother. I would put the cap on her head and we would sing the theme song.

When I was in kindergarten we had a "bring your pet to school day" and all the kids and parents gathered in the 4 classrooms and brought in their pets. I didn't have a pet at the time (we had a family dog...but he lived outside and was too rough to bring to something like that). I remember I was really upset about not being able to have a pet and my grandfather heard about my pet problem. He widdled a little wooden cage/basket thingy for me and put a little brown and white peep (or chick...baby chicken) into it and let me take it to school for pet day. Everyone loved the little baby chicken, he was so fluffy and soft 😀 I will never forget that.