Granddad and My Mom

My Grandad: What a Man!


I remember so many things about him, it is difficult to find
a place to start.

He was a kind man. He was a Man of few words most
of the time.

There were always chores to be done. He would let
me tag along whenever I wished to.

There was always some critter to care for or some
car repair or maintainence to be done on the Farm.

I would never tire of spending time with him. He was
a great Story Teller. It was so real, you could feel
things happening.

He and my Grandma took care of us kids once in a while so
Mom and Dad would run errands and have time together.

There were always fun things to do on the Farm where they lived.
I will give more detail of these things in a later story.

My Grandpa used to play tricks on my Mom back when they first
moved down to Missouri, long before I was born.

I did not know my Grandpa teased my Mom until one day when
my Dad was remembering some things about when he and Mom
were first married.

Dad told the story of when my Grandpa, his Dad, teased my
Mom about there being a Huge Bear roaming around
the Countryside.

Grandpa was able to tell this story in such a believeable
way that Mom bought it Hook, Line and Sinker.

She was naive and did not know any difference. They had only
recently moved from Iowa to Missouri. The timber filled land
and houses so far from one another and the aloneness was
all new to my Mom.

I can imagine the look on my Mom's face when this entire
incident happened. I can also feel a lot of empathy for her
in that she was so easily "Hoodwinked".

It scared her so much that she began to see things that
were not happening. She actually believed she saw a bear
in the bushes North of our House!

She became so stressed out about it, that my Dad
finally told her that his Dad had been pulling her
leg and that there were no Bears in this part of
the Country so it was impossible to see them.

I wonder if she ever trusted my Grandpa again after that!

I wonder often how she could stand being so far from her parents.
The loneliness had to be hard to manage.

I wonder a lot about those days. I see the photos of those times.
My mother was very brave. She took care of my two Brothers
and me with an ease which I have never seen since.

She had grown up an only Child. That really astounds me.
To go from so much quiet to so much noise had to be tough to take.

Then to be separated from her Parents by so many miles had to be
a challenge as well. I remember she used to write to her
Parents very often in those days.

It was a time without TV to distract or entertain. There would
have been little time for that anyway with Laundry to do and
cooking to get done in time for my Dad to arrive home from his
busy day.

There was water to be carried for every chore she faced. When
we got a bit older, we began to help with as many of the
chores as we could. Times were just much harder back then.
Kids now days give funny looks when told of the the common
things we did "Way back Then".

I began to talk about my Grandfather and ended up talking more
about my Mom. I seem to do that a lot when I write.

I know it is because the Anniversary of her Death is coming
again soon. I always will think of her a lot in Spring.

I am not sad in that would she have lived, there would
not live been the quality of Life that she deserved. It was to
be her time. She had suffered enough. I am glad she is no
longer in pain.

I do not want to end this on a sad note, for I remember
all of the good things she left behind when she left.

She had so many former students and friends attend her funeral.
This after many many years of time and distance between them.
She had a lot of people who cared for her. That makes
my writing and remembering all good!

Hugs to you all, hug yourself and someone you know
today, it is important!

Smile at someone today that you normally wouldn't.
It can make their otherwise not so good day better.

It might even help your Day become great as well!
So little can mean so much!

Goodbye for now! Later,

Katie