Saturday, March 7, 2009

Hanging out with Grandpa Joe

I forgot to bring my camera- so no pictures.

we headed over to Grandpa Joe's today. He is going to be 88 this month, but we will miss his birthday due to traveling to Michigan to visit friends.(providing the weather is good).
Grandpa Joe pulled out his 8th grade literature workbook. I was struck by how well his handwriting was at age 13 years old- it is incredibly precise and very easy to read- nothing like kids today or heck kids in my day. He was remarking that the workbook was written 75 years ago!!!!! That sort of puts it all into perspective- 3/4 of a century ago, my grandfather wrote those word. Amazing.

Bug and I played outside at the park- we discovered the other end of the park near Grandpa's house. Bug was disappointed that the kids there did not want to play with him, but he had fun. He also got to hold the leash for Grandpa's dog, Cyber. Mam goes over once a week to give Cyber his insulin shot- actually someone goes over every day to give Cyber a shot, Mam just has to once. we go every so often- Bug gets bored in Grandpa's small apartment and there are so many things that he can not touch at Grandpa's. Additionally, Cyber is rescue dog and was very badly abused by older children before Grandpa took him in, so he does not trust kids at all. Since Bug is used to Ginger and Izzy, Laura's dog, it is hard for him to understand why he can not touch Cyber's toys. So we go over when the weather is good and when Bug is in a good mood. We talk to Grandpa Joe for about 15 minutes, then Bug and I head outside to play. Sometimes we play right outside the apartment, so Grandpa, Mam and Pap can watch us, and sometimes we head across the street to the park. I can't imagine that we will have many more years with Grandpa Joe, so going over is a trip down memory lane.
Grandpa talked about dating my grandmother- she died 12 years ago, he talked about how he and grandma dated for 3 years, how they hung out before school and at lunch on the corner in front of the school. he talked about how they were one of 3 couples who dated all through school.
They had 55 years together before Grandma passed due to Alzheimer's. What a wonderful life they had together.

Before we headed over to Grandpa Joe's, Bug and did some work around the house- laundry. The weather was so nice, I was able to hang out the laundry- it was great. I opened the windows in the house and let in the fresh air. We washed the car, we hung out. It was great.


it was a good day.

Love to you,
Deb

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