Grandpa

My grandpa H passed away today. We are happy that he didn't suffer any pain, right up to the end, which was a real miracle. My grandma says she is doing okay, concentrating on the details I think, and the same with my mom. As coping mechanisms go, it is a fairly good one.

Grandpa was a real craftsman. His garage was his woodshop, and he made lots of neat little jokes in there. His favorite was the quarterpounder- a block of wood in the shape of a hamburger with a quarter in it. He would make little toy trucks for the Santa Christmas drive. He made each of his granddaughters a beautiful wooden jewelery box for Christmas one year. It was lined with felt. I still use mine, it is one of my favorite items. He got into model trains. The rec room of their old house got changed into his model train display and collection. When they moved, he convinced everyone to start a model train club. By the time it got started, he was too sick to attend much, but he was proud of that. He would always have a funny story or a joke ready to tell- after all, he was Irish. He and Grandma would play Skip-Bo or Tile Rummy every night, so to beat him at it was exciting. He would often get up to say stuff in church- I lived in another city, so wasn't there much, but from what I can tell, he usually whelled up and tried to encourage everyone.

Of course, we had our differences- very different political and personal ideologies, more different then I think he realized, but I always knew that Grandpa loved me. He was a very earnest man and always took his responsiblities seriously. He shovelled the snow from the front of the church. For years, he took care of the plumbing needs at camp. Often my grandparents would have out of towners stay at their house because they were close to the airport. For like thirty years my grandparents helped at Park Valley camp, right up til a few years ago.

I will miss Grandpa.