G'day. First for the sad news--my grandpa passed away early Friday morning. Sad news but, at the same time, welcome. I think the last 11 years were the loneliest of his life; now he can finally be reunited with my grandma. The funeral is Tuesday in Idaho Falls, so we'll be headed up there Monday night. In commemmoration of old Gramps (I can't even remember how many 'm's are in that word--I think my spelling ability is going down the john lately), here's my Top 10 List of Grandpa Memories:
10. Grandpa-ese -- words like "dingus, "hummer," "duds," and "jeezy crackers" that shall ever remain a part of my lexicon. (One time I actually started compiling a dictionary of Grandpa-ese.)
9. The time he misread a display on my mom's cell phone that said "CALLED" and told her "Jann, your phone says you're supposed to call Ed."
8. The time he put flashing lights around the license plate of his van and switched the horn with one from a semi truck. (He often said that when the time came for the Saints to return to Missouri, he planned to hitch a team of oxen to the van.)
7. Juicing anything with leaves and LOVING it. All except for alfalfa--that was the one vegetable that apparently didn't turn out so good.
6. Telling everyone that his knee surgery was due to getting hit there by a scud missile during Desert Storm.
5. The time he was being grumpy so me, Sheridan, and Nick sang "The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow" to him and he cheered right up.
4. The time he accidentally called my grandma "Henry."
3. His much-revered "crazy old world" speech. Anyone who ever had him as a grandpa knows exactly what I'm talking about.
2. The time when we were at Kate Curley Park and a scary hoodlum swore at me, Sheridan, and Nick for throwing pine cones at the squirrels so Gramps took it upon himself to chew out the hoodlum while me and my brothers hid in the van, expecting the hoodlum to kill Gramps or vice-versa.
1. His impressions of the gay guys he served with in the Navy. ("Why, hel-LO, Mr. Green!")
I would say that's a fitting Ben-style memorial. Maybe I'll come up with more Gramps memories later on.
As for other stuff that's happened lately, today Alyssa and I went to Toy Story 3 in the morning (highly recommended) and Red Butte Gardens in the afternoon, which was fun, the highlight being when we saw a rattlesnake and a squirrel going at it like a bickering married couple. I have never seen a squirrel tempt fate like this; I think maybe it was insane, suicidal, or part mongoose. Also saw precious ducklings, giant photo-op Gila monster statue thingy, and plant life up the wazooty. Good times, good times. I also should mention how last Saturday Alyssa and I took Trey and Kenji swimming at the Park Center and the latter couldn't find his towel so (get ready for some highly rational logic here) he decided to stroll around the Park Center buck naked. (Did I mention that he's 9?) Children! How I'll survive from one day to the next, I really just don't know.
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