Last night, we were invited to my aunt’s house for desserts to celebrate Grandpa’s 81st birthday. He was born in 1931, delivered at home by the family doctor.
There was a table in the backyard covered in Grandpa’s favorite desserts, and we all gathered ’round and visited. Aunt Lil’s backyard is beautiful… filled with all kinds of flowers and plants. She works miracles, that woman does. Want to meet her?
All the kids love Aunt Lil… my kids beg to visit “Lilly.” They can’t get enough of her. Don’t you love The Red-Headed Nephew’s PJ’s? They look like they come from an evening smoking jacket. Only 9 months, and he’s already a cut above.
Aunt Lil’s newest addition to her backyard is a fireplace and sitting area… it’s absolutely amazing.
After we all polished off our desserts, I sat next to Grandpa with a voice recorder and asked him questions.
“If you could offer us financial advice, what would it be?”
“Spend as you go,” he said.
“What advice would you give us as far as how we spend our time?”
“I think work’s about the best way to spend time,” he said.
“What advice to you have to give about families?” I asked.
“I dunno,” he said, “Ya oughta have one. That’s all.”
“If you could sum your life thus far up in a few words, what would they be?”
“Shortest 80 years I ever had,” he said.
Grandpa has never been a man of many words. I always wish I could be more like that. But I guess if we were all like that, no one would tell anyone much of anything. And if everyone talked as much as I did… the world would be in a STATE.
He did tell us all about the time he saved a man’s life, thanks to the training he received as a Scout. And he told us about how he was baptized in the creek. And when I asked him who his strongest influences were in his life, he told me he looked up to his parents. Then when he got married, he looked up to his wife.
When I asked him what the greatest gift his wife had ever given him was, he said, “Just being her. That’s all.”
And I melted RIGHT into my sandals. And Grandma, who sat right next to him, fairly beamed. It was so sweet -a memory I’ll take with me forevermore.
And in case you’re related to me and sorry you missed the interview, I’ll be burning it to a CD this very day. If you want a copy, just let me know. If you’re my sibling, you’re getting one whether you like it or not.
And if you WERE there but were on your smartphone… you’re welcome to a CD as well.
Eating a GIGANTIC helping of pumpkin dessert was a great way to end The Day My Belly Turned 5 Weeks. Sometimes the best cure for worry is pumpkin dessert followed by two days worth of yoga.
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