Memories of your grandfather.

[JoAnn L.]

My grandfather was quite a character. He was a cutter at a fur company. He would always ask me when I was little if I wanted a fur coat and I would always say no (my mother would get mad at me ). He did make me a fur collar and a muff, do you remember them? He always wore a flannel shirt with a bow tie, sometime the tie was made out of fur.
When they would have us over for Sunday dinner, he would sit at the table with us kids and start saying, "when do we eat, when do we eat " over and over, and he would get us kids to join in. Well, grandma would yell at him from the kitchen," Freddie cut that out". We would laugh. Then he would make a volcano out of his mashed potatoes and pour in the gravy. We kids loved that.
I don't think I ever saw him without his pipe. I have their antique cabinet. It is filled with things I have of theirs, including Grandpas pipes.
Will you share your memories, please?

 

[wasabi]

My Puerto Rican Papa was brought here as a laborer for the Oahu Sugar Mill. He worked his way into the machine shop where one day the machine chopped off two of his fingers. His one and only job in Hawaii was at the mill.

Papa loved to sing and my memories are of him singing the night away with his Puerto Rican band every Christmas. Papa and his band would serenade the neighbors on Christmas and end up with a big party at his house. Wonderful memories of fun, food and dancing.

 

[corazon]

My Grandpa was a dentist. His name was Dr. Paine. I remember going in and feeling like the entire weight of his body was wrestling with my teeth.

We would go out to lunch with him and he'd ask the waitress if they took Alaskan money. They were dumbfounded by the question. Many times they didn't know the answer.

He had big wild white eyebrows and was always making some sort of face in a photo.

 

[VeraBlue]

My mother's father was a barber, with his own shop. I loved the way it smelled in there. I remember going to a McDonald's, probably one of the first in our area, and he lifted off the bun and scraped off all the tiny chopped onions. I remember the huge stuffed animal (a dog, coloured hot pink and neon orange) he brought to me in the hospital when I was 6 and had my apendix removed. I remember the weird coloured plastic screen he placed over his black and white television to make 'colour tv'. I remember the pastries he'd bring for sunday dinner's dessert. I remember him falling asleep in the rocking chair before dinner started. I remember the Parliament's he smoked, and finding a used butt in the toilet bowl after every visit. I remember the coughing fits he'd suffer through shortly before he passed away from cancer in 1972. He was a wonderfully kind and loving man, gone way too early.

My father's father spoke very little english. Broken english it was called. He was a mason, and there's a street named after him two towns over...he built all the little brick homes on the street. I remember his homemade wine. I remember sitting outside and having dinner in his yard, under an arbor of grapes, grapes haning so low you could just reach up and pick them. I remember his hands were huge, and he scared the daylights out of me. I remember he once gave my brother and a toy called 'barrel of monkeys' but the barrel was empty, he'd given the monkeys to a cousin. I remember he drove to my house one day to give my mother 2 homemade peach pies. I remember my father getting a phone call one evening during dinner in 1969...and leaving the kitchen. I followed him, and saw him lying on his bed crying. My grandfather passed very quickly from a massive heart attack at just 60 years old. Another wonderful man that I wish I'd had more time to get to know.

By the way, I have my grandfather's barber pole.....

 

[TexanFrench]

My maternal grandfather had the task of "keeping the little ones out of the kitchen" when supper was being prepared. He would invite all "the small sizes" into his study. If you could read, you would read to him from your schoolbooks. If you couldn't read, he would read the funny papers to you. Or he would invent stories. I remember that he appeared to be unfailingly interested in every beginning story he ever heard, and he was unfailingly complimentary of every reader's effort. "Well, now. Isn't that fine?" I can hear him now!

 

[KAYLINDA]

My grandpa lived to be 100. Once my Grandma tripped over a brick in the yard and broke her arm. He laughed and said..."I'm glad I wasn't the one to leave that there." He swore he lived to be a 100 because he "ate cucumbers every day" "didn't smoke or drink" " and didn't listen to that darn old country music"....
I happen to love country music...so guess I won't live too long...lol.

 

[shpj4]

Thank you for talking about Memories Of Your Grandfather. It really touched my heart.

On my mother's side my grandfather started the Breakstone Butter Factory in Chicago and my grandmother was a housewife with 5 children.

On my father's side my grandfather owned a large stationary mill in Chicago and my Grandmother did the bookkeeping. They had 10 children.

I dearly miss them all.

 

[amber]

My Grandpa was a dentist. His name was Dr. Paine. I remember going in and feeling like the entire weight of his body was wrestling with my teeth.

We would go out to lunch with him and he'd ask the waitress if they took Alaskan money. They were dumbfounded by the question. Many times they didn't know the answer.

He had big wild white eyebrows and was always making some sort of face in a photo.

Dr. Paine, and he was a dentist

No nice stories to add about my grandfather's unfortunately, but it's great to hear everyone's stories.

 

[middie]

My grandfather worked on the railroad. He always wore a white t-shirt and he a bit on the large side so his belly always stuck out lol. He always always always had to have vo5 for his hair. He called it his hair grease.
Wore old spice clologne. Drank and smoked alot. Loved to cook more than
anything so he basically lived in his kitchen. He was just a good old country boy from Logan, West Virginia. Who dreamed of going back home after living in Cleveland for so many years. His dream came true. And I miss him terribly. He died about 4 years ago.

 

[mudbug]

My California grandfather (mom's dad) had humble jobs all his life, with his 3rd grade education. He could play the harmonica, which I never knew until after he died. He chewed tobacco and had a spittoon next to his chair. He would prepare a lariat and could rope every single one of us kids with one flick of his wrist. When he died he left mom and her sister $30,000 apiece. My brother named his son after him.

My New Orleans grandfather I didn't know as well. Another railroad guy, middie - for the Southern Pacific RR. He was also a precinct captain for the Democrats. He loved beer and cigars. When he retired, he would sit on the front porch to watch the neighborhood (knew who everyone was) and would ring the doorbell for Grandma to bring him another beer. Wished I'd known him better.

 

[Buck]

My Mother's father changed my life one day when he took me into his darkroom and showed me how to develop a roll of film. I can still hear his thick rich Swiss accent, "Und ziss is ze time ven ve add ze fixatif into ze tank."
My fascination with that process led to my interest in photography, a degree in professional photography from RIT and a career of film and video production. Even though he's long gone I still thank him frequently for the interest he took in me.
Just remembered; he even wrote with an accent. He owned a weaving mill. One day I was walking throught the mill and saw a note he had hung on some old machinery: "These looms to be chunked."

Thanks for the opportunity to remember him.
Buck

 

[Andy M.]

You guys are fortunate to have happy memories of your grandfathers. I never knew either of mine. They never had the chance to emigrate to the USA. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bethzaring]

I never knew either of my grandfathers. My Mom's dad died 7 years before I was born, he was the assistant postmaster at New Castle Indiana. And I am still investigating the story surrounding my fathers' father. My dad's mom died when my dad was 6, and he was taken away from his father to be raised by his aunt, his mom's sister and her husband. It was this man who us kids called, grampa, but he was no blood relative. He was the greatest. We would visit him, he never came to our house. It was a day's trip by car, in the 1950's. He was always so glad to see us kids. He had a woodworking shop in the basement and would make us toys while we visited. He was widowed and lived alone by the time I came along. I believe he was a banker. Here is a picture of him with me and my sister, I am the shorter one. I hope this picture shows the type of person he was, so kind and gentle.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Thank you so much for showing us this picture. I love old photo's. You are right, he does look like a very warm and loving man.

 

[kitchenelf]

We never knew anyone on my mother's side - when she left (married my dad) she REALLY left and never kept in contact with ANYONE. I didn't know my grandfather at all on my father's side as I was too young when he passed away.

I love reading your stories - they are so very sweet!

 

[auntdot]

My dad's dad apparently went our for a loaf of bread when my dad was five years old, and never came back.

My mom's dad died years before I was born.

My dad's mom I also never knew.

And my mom's mom was a nasty old lady (not my opinion, just that of everyone who knew her) who died when I was a child.

So have no good memories of grandparents.

Am happy you have yours.

Like elf, I enjoy reading your stories, but must admit the experience is a bit bittersweet.

God bless.

 

[VeraBlue]

I never knew either of my grandfathers. My Mom's dad died 7 years before I was born, he was the assistant postmaster at New Castle Indiana. And I am still investigating the story surrounding my fathers' father. My dad's mom died when my dad was 6, and he was taken away from his father to be raised by his aunt, his mom's sister and her husband. It was this man who us kids called, grampa, but he was no blood relative. He was the greatest. We would visit him, he never came to our house. It was a day's trip by car, in the 1950's. He was always so glad to see us kids. He had a woodworking shop in the basement and would make us toys while we visited. He was widowed and lived alone by the time I came along. I believe he was a banker. Here is a picture of him with me and my sister, I am the shorter one. I hope this picture shows the type of person he was, so kind and gentle.

Bethzaring, I absolutely love the clothes the young girls are wearing! The shoes and hats are lovely!

 

[bethzaring]

Bethzaring, I absolutely love the clothes the young girls are wearing! The shoes and hats are lovely!

gosh VB, thanks! My mom made the dresses and may have made the hats too, I can't tell from the picture. My mom made all our dresses, play clothes, pajamas, coats, slippers, some hats. We were some well dressed kids, she did amazing work on the sewing machine.

 

[vagriller]

I never met either of my grandfathers, but have heard a few things about them.

My maternal grandfather was retired from the Air Force as a Master Sargeant. He smoked and drank a lot and died rather young of cirrhosis.

I know a bit more of my paternal grandfather, although he died before my dad met my mom. He was a carpenter by trade, and evidently a very good one. He pre-cut all his lumber before assembling something. For instance, if he was building rafters for a roof, he would cut everything to length with a handsaw - compound angles and all - on the ground. then he brought everything up on the roof and nailed it together. That is amazing to me! He was a true DIYer. He built a doodlebug tractor and taught my dad (the only boy of 4 kids) how to drive with it. My dad loved that tractor, and to this day he has always had a tractor of his own. Actually he bought an old doodlebug a few years back. Maybe he will get it running by the time my son is old enough to drive it.

 

[cloudybutnice]

My grandfather passed away about 40 years ago, but I still remember him, and my grandmother.
He made braces for a living, ( the sort that hold your trousers up ) and later had a sweet shop. He was injured quite badly in the First World War, and lost most of the use in his left hand. He was a gentle, emotional man who I was very fond of.
I wonder what he would have made of the internet and the fact that I'm remembering him publicly so long after his death.