Gramps

Just last week I was talking to my mom and we were saying that we should write down some of our favorite memories of my grandpa.  He passed just this August and it was really hard, but there are so many wonderful memories I have of him and some of those I would like to share with you.

When I was young I remember going to his house a lot.  My grandma passed when I was very young, and I don't really remember her, but I do have such great memories of going to gramps' house.  It was always so clean and at Christmas time he always put up the white Christmas tree.  I always thought that was so cool.  My cousins and I had so much fun playing at that house.  He had a steep hill next to his house and we would roll down it into the street.  On the 4th of July, we would climb on top of his roof and watch the fireworks show. He had this big old Dodge pickup, and I can still remember the way it smelled.  Gramps always had Juicy Fruit gum for us too.

Over the years I got older and moved away, but these last few years have been so special to me.  One of my favorite memories is when I took him to the International Festival and we sat down at a picnic table and shared a fry bread and watched some Polynesian dancers.  He kept saying, "man, they can dance!"  As we were walking back to the car I stopped and pointed out this huge turtle in a cage that was on  display and he just stood there for a second and out of nowhere he yells "Hey!", as if the turtle would look up at him and aknowledge him.  I was so embarrased because right next to us there was a table full of young army recruiters that were just cracking up.  And, I couldn't help but laugh as well.

This last year I tried to go home every weekend so I could spend time with him.  On Saturdays I took him to dialysis and he just loved riding in my car.  You see my car has a the handle on the top you can hold on to, as if you were on a bus or a trolley.  He remembered that everytime he got into my car.  Whenever we would hit 38th st and Gore (those of you from Lawton), he would say "Hold on", but of course I would hit it  like the Dukes of Hazzard and he would just giggle like a little boy.  "Oh Boy" and "Boy Howdy" were a couple of his favorite phrases.  He also LOVED football.  On the TV it was always football,  John Wayne, The Andy Griffith Show, or Sanford and Son.  Just the other day I was at the gym on the treadmill flipping through the channels and I landed on Sanford and Son.  I continued watching it, while looking like an idiot laughing the whole time, but feeling really connected because this was an episode that I remembered watching with him.  This past spring I stumbled upon the Lingerie Football League.  I immediaely called my dad and asked him to turn it on for gramps.  Dad said he got such a kick out of it.  He didn't say much but the one thing he did say was, "those girls have Big Legs!"  Im sure thats all he noticed:)

The beginning of the summer we had to move him to a rehab facility.  The place was kind of in between an assisted living and nursing home.  My family was very diligent about going there everyday to visit and eat meals with him. The word got out that there was a piano there and my cousin told him that next time I came I would play for him.  I was very nervous when I heard about that because I havent played for about 12 years.  So I get there and of course he doesnt forget, so we walk down to the common area and I apologetically try to squeak out a couple of songs.  He claps and gives me a sympathy "that was good", but the last song I remember is an old hymn, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus".   After hearing this he wants me to play it again and again and again.  I should have know this would be the one he would love so much because of his deep love of Jesus.  Whenever he would talk about Jesus, he would never say his name, he would always just say "my friend". A few times I would think, who is he talking about, he doesn't have any friends. (Which was mean, I know). But I realized he wasn't talking about any friends here on earth, but his Saviour. Gramps would always say the prayer whenever we had big family dinners and whether he would say it in Kiowa or English he would say at the end "I love you , I love you, I love you".   He taught me that God isn't this force or great spirit that sometimes seems beyond us, but that he can be our best friend.  He is so close to us that its not necessary to use big King James majestic words to communicate with him, just talk to him like he's your friend that's sitting right next to you.  Im sure he is sitting next to Him now with my grandma just gabbing away about OU football or the Denver Broncos or those girls that played football with the big legs.