Dad was right

Growing up I had 9 Grandparents. 4 Grandparents and 5 Great-grandparents. I’d walk in the house and dad would ask “what you been doing”. I’d say, “Gramps took me to the first dam fishing this morning, or Granny and I went and checked on GGP Guy and GGM Mary, or Grandpa ask me to go check the pasture cattle out south this morning”. Almost every time dad would look me in the eye and say “son you are a very lucky young man. Don’t take your grandparents for granted, cherish every moment”. All my grandparents were good, God-fearing men and women. Not saints, Just good Christian people. I’ve posted before about one of my grandmas giving me the what for after she heard me say Dang-it under my breath.

My grandpas where tough, hard working men. Papa was in WWII. He worked at 3M, had 500 bee hives, and a RC airplane hobby shop. The others were sheep ranchers, farmers, and carpenters. They all enjoyed the outdoors. Papa and Gramps especially loved to fish. When fishing with Gramps it was cane poles only, no Zebcos allowed. They all gave me my love for the outdoors, my work ethic, my love for God, and my respect for women.

My grandmothers were true ladies. All very talented women. They were housewives, one was a seamstress. She made some of the most beautiful wedding dresses I have ever seen. Cooking a meal for 30 guys day after day during harvest, making a quilt for the newest grand kid, or paying the farm bills. They could do it all. The thing that impresses me most about these women. Was their devotion to their husbands. It’s not PC in this day to say it, but it seemed that their main purpose in life was to make sure their husbands had everything they needed. If Papa was on early shift at 3M at 5. Grandma was up at 3:30 laying his cloths out, packing his lunch, and had his breakfast ready when he got up. They taught me compassion, humility, and showed me through there actions how to truly serve others.

Dad was right. I was a very lucky and blessed man. I’m so grateful for the time I was able to spend with each one of them. I was given 43 years of grandparents, but all things must come to an end. Grandma was the last one and passed last thursday. If you have grandparents don’t take them for granted and cherish every moment. If you have a story about your grandparents I'd love to hear it.

I only have one grandma left. She lives 12 hrs away from me so I don't see her too often.

Same holds true for your parents.My parents and my wifes parents have all passed.Would have loved for them to have gotten to see their great grand kids.

All but one of my grandparents lived to be in their mid to late 80’s in good health, Great grandmothers too ! I was pretty young when great grandparents passed but was able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents. Now when my grandkids are at the house I try and keep it as enjoyable as it was for me as a kid. My 7 year old grandson found his first shed antler yesterday with a little help from grandma ( she always sees them before I do ) and I’m sure he will always remember that. Just as I remember all the good times with my grandparents.

Sounds like my paternal grandparents. They weren't perfect but they took their jobs as husband and wife very seriously. Hard to find people like that anymore. Too much selfishness.
Now if only 1 spouse is working the other is taken back if they're asked to help the other get going. -"Why should I get up early and make you anything? ?? Do yourself, I'm busy sleeping."

just being around the grandparents places was something i always looked forward to.always an adventure and something to do.never heard me say i was bored,cause they would find something for you to do.now at 50 i've lost them all including my parents but just came back in from working on the old pasture.they may be gone but definately not forgotten.every day i have a memory or 2 of one of them and now i smile and keep goin.was tuff for a while but i realize i will see them again and don't wanna get a switch for letting things go to crap.quite a motivator.

My grandparents on both sides of the family were gone before I was born. My children had a blessing that I never knew & they were wise enough to cherish those extra years of being with them. Now that they are gone they tell me how special it was that my wife & I made sure they lived so close to them.

Agree!

Pawnee Great post .It is so very true .The close knit families of years going by are how people lived in a different time .And the simple life style served many families very well Today it is a want it all and I want it right now.

You've got good DNA. Keep it going.

You're a lucky guy. I'm sorry for your loss. Praying for you and your family during this time
Lost my grandparents when I was young.

You're right the woman is/was the helper of husband. I got to see that part with my parents. Mom was always ready to help my pops it didn't matter what or where it was. It could be from building the house or irrigating, tending our field in 100°+ or anywhere else. My pops always helped my mom as best as he could.
It's sad to see these days where each spouse is focused either on their own things or on the kids. The spouse is priority after God and before the kids. Yet we wonder why divorce is so rampant.

Only had two grandparents left when I was born. I was a young man when my last grandmother passed. She stayed with us up until my folks physically couldn't care for her (dad had parkinsons and already in his 70's). Then dad went into the facility everyday to spoon feed her.

The thing I learned from my folks is that we take care of our own. I took my turn with my siblings staying over and caring for my grandma when she needed total care. Helped her bath, clothed her, wiped her hiney....everything.

My mom and dad did one great thing for all of us. They wrote a book about their lives and told all the stories that they remembered from their growing up and about their parents. It is a treasure for all of us six kids. They made copies of the book and gave it to all their kids and all their grandkids.

What a great treasure that book must be.

I agree. A true treasure!

Thanks adam much appreciated

well my dads mother died when he was 3 so never met her and his dad died when I was 7 so all I remember of him Is him in nursing home . on my moms side we would get together every holiday they had a farm an they had 9 kids ,my aunts, an uncles ,life was great out there all us cousin would play in hay barn an have fun in summer time we would go there an stay an help on the farm ,one time cousin al an I pick 37 bushes of beans for market an they sold all of them ,they would take us fishing ,an picking blueberry ,

People who question God when bad things happen to loved ones with words like, if there is a God why does he allow such bad things as death or crippling diseases to happen. It is through the bad things that happen in families & communities that we learn empathy, compassion, unselfishness & how to go the extra mile for love. Maybe that is the real lesson of life that God needs us to learn before we pass through Heaven's Gate. I am sure it is.

My kids have it pretty good. 1 mile north to my wife’s parents and 1 mile south to mine. One of my mentors has worked for us for 39 years. He always told me growing up. Stay close to home, but stay far enough away that your parents can’t see if your garage door is up or down. Lol

My two sons never had the joy of having a grandfather my Dad died at age 47 and my wife lost her Dad at age 40 both men were great people they missed a great joy.

had a grandmother and she passed when I was 3 as was the custom in those days she took care of the kids while Mom and Dad took care of the farm I was the last When she had a stroke in 1957 she was taken care of at home. She couldn't talk or move much but I played cards with her putting them in her hand. Don't remember the game but my Dad told me years later he was always amazed that I knew which card she wanted me to play Also remember playing dolls with her wrapping them in a brown towel

One of the reasons I bothered to mention and take a picture of that book is hopefully some of you will be inspired to write down your own story to hand down to your kids and grandkids. Generations to come will benefit to know more about the lives of those that passed before they had a chance to know them.

Think about it.

I have something like that .From the time I started hunting I kept notes on what I got and some general locations .Along with anything unique that may have happened during the day . For example my notes for Oct.16 1971 show that I shot 2 Gray Squirrels and a Red Squirrel while hunting. The Grays where shot at 8:30 and 10:35 I would have been 17 that year .I have several note books of things like that I doubt that anyone else is interested but I sometimes look at them and recall the events of the day . And maybe someone will look at them sometime and take a slight interest in the things I wrote down

My boys and I tapped trees with my grandpa (their great grandpa) this afternoon. Great memories to never be forgotten!

Some of the wisest men I've known could be found whittling under a shade tree on a hot summer afternoon.

What you said about a woman's devotion to her husband is spot on whether it's PC or not. My wife is probably the biggest blessing in my life... She is up before me packing my lunch, laying out my clothes, and cooking me breakfast and making coffee. I make a good living and one of the reasons I am able to is because of the support I get from her.

I fear my boys will have a devil of a time finding a woman with the same virtues their mother has.

Mike

So true. Gramps, my dads grandpa that I fished with. Died when I was in my 20’s. He kept a journal/diary every year. I have some from the 40’s and 60’s. I read them all once a year. Fascinating to me! If I read something that I have a question about. I make sure and stop by the local hangout and ask the older guys. They always enjoy it and I always learn something. Thanks

Interesting read. had a family re=union some 80 relatives all in their 60-70 discuss talking with their grand side of the family uncles, aunty's parents etc. of the past and the stories they could remember. Some could remember some things but there was a lot of blanks from others.
I'm glad that some prior generations made some books and some of the descendants bought copys, but there are many pages to fill in since the last printing.
And now with out hard copy what will be around in the next round of technology of 000001000100010010101000 for our next generation to follow.

How very true .There are a lot of educated people without much wisdom and there are a lot of smart people that have the kind of knowledge you do not get from a book

Ah what memories of the halcyon days of my youth.
My grandparents from PA passed when I was youngster and I do not recall ever meeting them. I was told that my PA grandfather was a plumbing heating guy and had a hardware store. My PA grandmother had been a school principle. It would have been nice to get to know some of that side of the family. They raised four boys and one daughter.

The grandfather I did get to "experience" was not all that non-typical from many I have met over the years.
He was what was referred to as a go getter. He would get up every morning, drive my grandmother to work, then go get her. Sometimes she would have to start walking if the fishing was real good. A man has to have his priorities straight, and gramps knew what was important to him. Not a clue about being a good grandfather or husband, but he knew what he liked.
At times when his busy schedule allowed my late mother (she passed away when I was a young teen) would talk him into watching after me for the day.

I always marveled at how his eyes would flutter at rapid intervals as he chugged a beer while driving down the road, heading for a spot somewhere beside a lake to fish. Brook, stream or river fishing was never an option as you have had to walk and expend some energy.
He would tell stories with great enthusiasm about coon hunting, rabbit hunting and fishing. It is odd he never told any work stories but I suspect it was because he had no experience in such endeavors.

One day he took me on a long hike, probably forty yards from the pick up truck into a cedar filled swamp. It seemed like a several mile walk as gramps had never taken that 7 or 8 year old on such a long walk.

We got to the middle of what I know recognize as an old cut down. He stopped and froze in position. He held up a finger to his lips and indicated for me to be quit.
Scared I also froze. He listened intently. All of a sudden he shouted "Look out, there coming for us!!!!" and he sprinted off into the thick woods leaving me standing there, ready to be devoured by what ever beast was "coming for us". He disappeared so quickly I had no chance to follow or even figure out which way he was heading. What a guy.

I remember being very scared yet somehow being able to think to myself, my God, my grandfather left me behind. It was one of the first lessons of trust no one to be driven home. Very early age for that kind of a lesson.

A few minutes later my grandfather came out of the brush laughing his fat rear end off. Let me explain that is not quite true as no man could laugh hard enough to lose that fat of a rear end, one that had been carefully built watching Red Sox games while grammy toiled in the shoe shop.

I could go on about all the adventures I had with gramps but I think you may get the drift. The sad things is when he passed I was in my later teens and we were away in the Maine woods on a fishing trip. I never forgave him for ruining my trip because the distant family I was with insisted we return to town.

Oh such wonderful memories. Maybe that is why I have never retired. Maybe that is why I run a business after officially retiring, work two part time jobs, and teach many evenings. Geese, I am kind of surprised that old Anti Gov did not have my picture on his parade of proud Americans working!

For those that had great grand parents, I am envious but glad you did, and I am glad you have such great memories. But I am here to prove even a bad situation in life can be used as motivation. Even a crap head can serve as an example of what not to be like. Crap head? Seems harsh? I left out the stories of my mother being the only one that could control the old fisherman when drunk and he had been beating on gram. Oh those halcyon days of my youth.

The joy in our lives was gifted in such family ties Pawnee.

I had all 4 grandparents until I was 30. First to go was my mother's father, Charles. He worked in a munitions plant during WWII, welding inside depth charges. Fumes from that ruined his lungs but he still made it to 1982. We were talking about his lung problems shortly before he died and he said "I got to live my life, so many of my friends did not come home from Europe or the Pacific."
My mother's mom was named Olive. She was 16 when my mother was born (Grampa Charlie joked he still had double ring bruises in the middle of his back, compliments of his father-in-law) and my mother was 18 when I was born so Gramma Ollie was a grandmother at 34 years of age. She lived to be 93 and we have a picture of her with mom, me, my daughter and Tim my grandson, 5 generations. Gramma Ollie's grin says it all.
My other grandfather Ralph Space was a state trapper and taught me how to catch fox in a water set. He was quite the" ladies man" but always made sure his girlfriends were named Elinore, so he did not slip up and say the wrong name at home!! At his funeral Elinore's were showing up from all over....
Gramma Space died on my birthday in 1997 at the age of 93. She was the hardest working person (not just woman but of all people) I have ever met. When Gramp (Ralph Space) was off pursuing another Elinore she ran the mink and fox farm. In the 30's and 40's before they had electricity she would butcher and can 2 horses a day in 2 quart jars on a wood stove in her house to preserve the meat for fox and mink food. This was in the summer months.
She also was great cook and sold pie slices in her general store (called that back in the day, now it would be a deli). People would come for miles around for apple pie and cheese slices. She cooked in the Space Farms kitchen for the zoo visitors until shortly before her death. One day when she was 90 years old a delivery man came with two 100 pound sacks of flour. He told her he had a bad back so she carried both sacks of flour from the truck into her kitchen! Delivery man must have mentioned it when he got back to the distributorship cause the next week his boss showed up with the truck to see if it was true and she repeated the stunt again. They gave her 10 bags of free flour but asked her not to carry them from the truck again. Her answer "Who the He-- is gonna carry them if I don't?"

Mac nice lol, and eric very nice stories