Today we saw a Ford truck. It's not all that unusual...we do currently live in the South, where there is a 50/50 chance that the next vehicle you see will be a truck. (I just made that up - probably not true.) And Scott owns a Ford truck, so we not only recognize them easily but the kids get excited because they're little connections to Dada.
So, today we saw one and Tyler pointed it out. Gracie commented that we should call Tyler "Ford" since he gets so excited when noticing trucks like Dada's. I laughed and shared with the kids that I tried to get Jace's middle name to be Ford, but Scott wouldn't go for it! Then Jace asked where his middle name did come from. Good question.
Jace's middle name was my paternal grandfather's name. He passed away when I was 20, long before the kids were even thoughts...at least in our minds. The kids asked questions that I tried to answer and I shared stories of Grandpa. It was really nice. I don't think I'd ever done that before. I think I should do it more often.
Like now, with you...
Grandpa was a little scary to me. He was lovable, but gruff. Once you got past the exterior, though, he was a teddy bear. He had a cat named "Roll Over." He drove milk truck. He competed in team sawing competitions. He and Grandma has a chicken BBQ for the 4th of July every year and Grandpa ate hot dogs. He didn't like chicken. He gave wonderful hugs and always leaned down to his grand kids and pointed to his cheek and said, "Give me a smack." Everyone knew this meant to give him a little kiss on the cheek. Well, everyone except my little sister who actually smacked him! He was surprised, but then laughed.
When we went to Grandpa and Grandma's we had watermelon seed spitting contest and played kickball in the yard. We helped feed the cows and ate great food. I remember jumping rope and playing hopscotch too.
I'm glad we didn't give Jace "Ford" as a middle name, Grandpa's is so much better! And it'll give me a reason to share stories of my grandfather from time to time, which leads to memories of Grandma and my other grandparents, and all those people I love who aren't here to be a direct part of my kids' lives, but who influence them none-the-less. We miss you all...and smile at you while you smile at us.
About Me
- Annie
- Like all of you, I'm a number of things to a number of people...Navy wife, homeschooling mama, educated woman and aspiring writer. Read my thoughts on all of it here. Please feel free to leave your thoughts on all of it too!
1 comment:
My grandfather is still alive, but there are a lot of things that remind me of him (and my relationship with him) in his younger days. My grandpa drove a white ford (which he still has) that had a shift column boot that looked like a stack of pancakes. I remember sticking my finger between each "pancake" and getting them pinched when he shifted. He didn't know my fingers were there, and I didn't know the pancakes could hurt me. He got me a piece of pie while he drank his coffee. I love that memory of him.
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