On the Occasion of His 94th Birthday...
Grandpa on his birthday, with his girlies.
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"Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family." ~Anthony Brandt
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Today was one of those days that I wished I had a laptop, or even a scrap of paper, for a brain dump. All those hours in the car, coming back from LA, coming back from family, from the birthday and I had so many thoughts and ideas crawling around in my head and now they've disappeared like ghosts.
With my luck, they'll wake me at 3am and then I'll try to catch them, like fireflies.
We had a lovely time. Grandpa was happy. I think we tuckered him out but in a good way that I know he won't mind.
The girlies are beautiful and must be renamed as Little Curly Girl's hair is straighter now. Princess Chubness is getting long and lean and is not really so chubby anymore. She's walking and growing little teeth and is sporting about ten thousand long eyelashes.
It's raining and I'm home.
I'm going to lie in bed and listen to it rain. Nighty nite.
8 comments:
Well, Miss Julie, I'm glad you're back safe and sound. The muligenerational photo is very dear. I'm sure everyone will cherish the special photos with grandpa. Time is very precious with him since one never knows how much longer you will have.
Happy Birthday to your dear Grandfather!!
Happy Birthday to Grandpa...such a priceless photo.
Happy Birthday to your lovely and sweet Grandpa!!!!!!!
"I'll try to catch them, like fireflies." perfect - and I totally understand!
It is like waking up from a dream and trying so hard to recall what exactly was happening but not being able to and as soon as your feet hit the ground it is gone... as if contact with the real world zaps those thoughts...... anyway - beautiful photo of course.
Well what a fine man your Gramps looks to be... And your sister's kids are adorable -- what a reward that must have been for him...
And I want to know more about your Grandfather... Surely there is a billion stories within...
While you were away I read one of your old posts -- you were telling the story about your father and "We don't need a %#@*+! plumber" story... Oh lord... Sometimes all you can do is laugh -- I've been there...
Glad you made it back safely... Hell, if I had ridden all that distance with MY parents I surely would have murdered them about twenty miles this side of San Luis Obispo -- fortunately I've never had to make such a long journey with them -- they eventually croaked of natural causes...
Hey, and I had a Grandmother that lived to 99-11/12ths... Lets see if your Gramps can beat that!
thank you for the birthday wishes, everyone! I still haven't recovered much of my observatory powers since returning, but have been enjoying the photos I took of the party.
Donald, I went back in my blog past to see what I had written about Grandpa. It made me a little sad and surprised to see that I had only written the sad parts (when he was in the VA Hospital, etc.) and now feel like I owe him a happier tribute.
He was born in Montreal in 1914 to Romanian Jews. His family moved to Minneapolis when he was about 6, and then on to Brooklyn. Funny enough, he and my grandmother (Little Helen) went to the same school but didn't marry until they were both widowed many years later.
He served in the US Army as an MP and landed at Omaha Beach, which he NEVER talked about. But he had a Nazi decorative dagger that he "liberated" (his words) from a Nazi officer in a farmhouse in France. We all used our imaginations on what that word meant. He still had some K-rations in a trunk until recently which he said were probably just as unappetizing to eat as when they were fresh.
He worked in New York as a typesetter and printer for the newspapers and then for the Government Printing Office in Washington. He was an avid bowler, a Mason, and a regular volunteer and supporter of the Jewish War Veterans for many many years.
He and I used to talk a lot about printing, typesetting and such when I was getting my degree in printing from San Jose State.
Such good memories. Thank you Donald, for making me have them again!
Oh, treasures all. This post was so soothing to my weary soul.
The decorative dagger vignette is fully awesome.
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