My grandfather passed away earlier this week. He suffered from Alzheimer’s and has been declining for a long time. The best way that I can gauge it is that Brian and I have been together for almost nine years, and while Brian met him when we first started dating, even then he wasn’t himself.
Tonight we’re celebrating his life with a family dinner of all his favorite foods. Because we lost him over such a long period of time, it feels even more important to me to document the memories that I have of him. So today I just want to touch on a couple of them.
Papa loved to entertain. He had a great laugh and a life-of-the-party personality, and he always seemed to strike up friendly conversations with strangers. But as his grandchild I most remember his theatrical pranks. When we would drive somewhere I would always climb into the car and buckle my seat belt before closing the door (why? In retrospect this makes no sense) and he loved to zip out of the long driveway backwards and stop the car fast so that my door slammed before I could get to it. And there was never a trip to Grandma Jane and Papa’s without him stomping down the wooden stairs in their two-story foyer and using his best giant voice to shout “fee, fi, fo, fum.” And as you can see above, he was great at reading stories. His voices were pretty awesome.
He loved food in general, but especially ice cream. My grandparents lived in Annapolis when I was growing up, and I have many good memories of going to the harbor with him, getting ice cream, and feeding the ducks. Papa was always very helpful about cleaning up my ice cream cone, which I wasn’t always happy about, but I have to admit that he was rather skilled at it. He also reportedly taught my dad (his son-in-law) to scoop down in the ice cream container as opposed to across to minimize surface area for crystallization. This was kind of a big deal in my house growing up. Tonight we’ll be having his favorites, including Graeter’s shipped from Cincinnati, as well as Cincinnati chili, Original KFC, fresh popcorn, and his whiskey sours (you may remember this sign from my wedding.)
He loved history. He was always quick to point out historic places or talk about his family’s history. I wish I had been older and could remember more of what he said.
And he was always affectionate. There was never a shortage of hugs and kisses. He was the real deal as far as grandfathers go.
A big thanks to my clients for being so understanding while I’m out of town! If I owe you an email, please know that I will get to you as soon as possible.
Sorry to hear about his passing, but what a wonderful man! Thanks for sharing Kate – your stories made me laugh in memory of my own grandparents :) x
Thanks Rach! :) Isn’t it funny how some things about families can seem universal?
Sorry to hear about your loss, Kate. He sounds like he was an amazing man.
Thanks Allyssa, he was a cool guy :)
Kate, I’m so sorry for your loss. He sounds like such a wonderful man, and I love how your family is celebrating his life. Hugs to you.
Thank you for your sweet comment, Brookelyn! I really appreciate it :)
oh Kate, I’m so sorry – but it sounds like you have so much love in those wonderful memories.
Thanks Betsy- it was nice to get some closure and really focus on the good memories after watching him decline for so long.
oh, I’m so sorry Kate! my grandmother has Alzheimer’s, and honestly it makes me miserable. it’s rather painful to be around her, because it just reminds me that the grandmother I knew and loved to pieces is gone for good. it may be a weird way of looking at things, but at least now that your grandfather has passed he can be himself again – not the confused shell that (I’m assuming) he became.
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re going through that, Kaity- I know exactly what you mean!
So sorry for your loss! This is a very lovely tribute post.
Thanks Amber :)
I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. I’m thinking about you and your family!
Thanks Whitney! xoxo
What a sweet post Kate :) I’m so sorry for your loss, but I hope you have a wonderful time this weekend celebrating his life. How lucky you are to have such sweet and loving memories of your grandfather! Thinking of you and your family this weekend! xoxo
Thanks Joelle, it has been really fun and comforting to get together with family and talk about our memories! xoxo
This is such a bittersweet post. I’m so sorry for your loss, but so thankful to you for sharing stories about such a loving man. His humour reminds me a bit of my Grandad :)
Thanks Kelly :) It’s funny how grandparents can have similar qualities!
Katelyn, I am so sorry to hear about your grandfather. But this is a wonderful tribute to him. I love that you’re celebrating his life while eating his favorite foods with your family. What a special idea :)
Thanks Rachel- we had a fun time being around each other, and I couldn’t help but look around my aunt’s kitchen as we all went to town on what must have been over 10 pints of ice cream and think that it’s exactly what he would have wanted :)