Gramps

Today marks four years since my Gramps died. That was a fast four years. Tonight around the dinner table we all told our favorite memory of him. Actually I’m not sure I ever got a turn because Don remembered a story that Gramps told us one night when we were out at Red Lobster (his favorite restaurant).

My grandpa was in the military and was scheduled to come home by plane. I think there was a snowstorm of some sort and the plane crashed. Everyone on it died. My grandmother and family were told he was dead. They all cried and started to plan his funeral. Late into the evening everyone had gone to bed. There was a knock at the door and my mom’s cousin Bobby answered it. It was Gramps, alive and well. He took Gramps down to the basement and they decided to surprise my grandma (probably not the brightest idea but I remember Gramps giggling like a kid when he told us). Of course she nearly had a heart attack when she saw him. Turns out he got bumped from the plane by the wife of a General. The General offered to drive Gramps home (there wasn’t a spot for him on the plane either) but Gramps refused because he was so mad that he got bumped. Little did he know his life would be spared that night! He said he’s never forgotten that General and his wife and couldn’t even imagine the heartache the General went through after the crash.

Gramps was more like my Daddy than my grandpa. I cherished him (and still do). I adored him (and still do). I miss him every minute of every day. He lived such a long wonderful life full of stories and adventures like the one above. He was ready to go but I do wish he could have stuck around just a couple of years more. He would have loved Gracie and would have been thrilled to see her red hair!

He called me Baby. I called him Old Man. Sometimes he called me Betsey Boo. He collected baseball hats and always wore the one you gave him when he’d see you. He had pineapple upside down cake every birthday (Christmas Eve). He loved westerns and country music… even the new hip stuff like Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw/ Faith Hill. He never missed a CMA awards show. He loved to watch Miss America too. Its ironic that the pagent is on tonight. He would keep a notepad and score his top 10 and then compare with the judges. He was usually able to pick the winner correctly. He collected postcards and had them all pinned up on his wall along with a huge map of the US where he put map pins in each city he had received a card from. I have all of them now along with the World Almanac’s and Farmer’s Almanac’s he collected every year.

I miss you every day My Gramps.