I find myself missing Grandpa a lot today.  Don't know why, but so it is.  So, I shall indulge in some memories...

20 years ago (yikes!) this month, he and G'ma came over to visit us and found a woman with 2 teenaged boys in the living room with Mom, the girls, and I.  One of those boys was a 16 yr old Mexican exchange student in need of a new home.  Somehow I'd convinced Mom that WE were the family he needed.  After meeting the woman he was currently residing with, Mom agreed.  On the way home to their house, G'pa asked G'ma what was going on.  She told him we were going to take Pepe for the rest of his year in the US.  "HIM?  No way!  He's too good looking!"  They later became great friends, Pepe even informing his parents, "The grandfather swears like a Mexican!"

G'pa and G'ma visited Pepe's family when they went down to Texas and Mexico.  G'pa and Jose got into an argument over which one of them would get to pay for dinner.  Jose said, "My country, I pay."  G'pa gave in, but turned the tables on them when Pepe's parents joined us in Texas later in the year--"My country, I pay."  G'pa spoke no Spanish (always said he "had 2 years of Spanish 1 in high school") and Jose spoke no English, yet the two of them disappeared one morning for more than 4 hours to take a of the country around Pepe's house and get the "right" tamales for dinner that evening.  G'pa said it was a great morning.

This is the time of year when we would always go up to Elias Cole's, a restaurant in NY state, or was it PA?  This after driving up to a farm to get apples.  Always MacIntosh.  I only ever remember getting the free apple out of the tasting barrel.  What did they do with the apples they bought?  I know G'ma often made him "baked apples" for dessert (in the microwave!), but what else?  Maybe we just went up for the beef and barley soup and fresh hot bread at Elias Cole's.

What would G'pa advise about our home heating problem? 

What would he think of my kids?  I know when he last met them Charlie was just 3 months old.  I'm sure he would find Charlie a real hoot right now.  Joseph wore him out--"Just watching that kid makes me tired!", Mary he kept saying, "What a beautiful young lady!", and I think lil'Nathan would probably incite a few jokes on his one-track-computer-wanting mind.  He'd think Elisabeth a sweetheart, until he saw her scream and try to bite her brother for taking his own toy back.  He'd have something to say to that, too, no doubt.