November Thankful #13

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm doing daily thankful posts. I'd love it if you'd join me by commenting here or on MichiGal's Facebook page.

November 13

Today I am thankful for grandparents. I grew up close to my mom's parents, living with them on and off all the way until my early 20's. They've been gone for a long time, but I think of them often and miss them, and I'm so glad I was fortunate to have them in my lives for as long as I did.

My grandpa was kind of gruff and crabby, but he mellowed out after he finally retired for good. He was a joker, and would rub my cheeks on his sandpaper cheeks when I sat on his lap, and offer me a knuckle sandwich. We used to go for long walks together, and sometimes he would pick me up to go shopping with him. This generally meant Kmart and the local market, Polla's. As I got older it was embarrassing when he'd pull over while driving for me to hop out and pick up an empty can in the street for the 10 cent deposit. He would take me to Tigers games and I would go with him to visit his dad, first at his sister's house, and then later at the nursing home. He used to like to take my cousins and I on local excursions, like visiting the Detroit salt mines, something that is no longer possible (probably because it's too dangerous...). During college, I remember my friend Julie and I sitting at his dining room table with him as he attempted to help us with our Environmental Science homework. When we found out he had stage IV cancer I was in my last year of college and it felt like my world was coming apart at the seams. He went quickly after that, but he suffered immensely and it broke my heart.

My grandma was someone I could always talk to. She and I just clicked, and she was one of my best friends. She was a no-nonsense kind of woman, not terribly affectionate, and I never once saw her cry. When I told her I loved her, in return she would say, "thank you." But I never doubted that she did love me. She would make me late night snacks, like sliced apples and cheese, or saltine crackers with peanut butter and jelly. We spent many days together, galavanting as she would say. This generally meant running errands and stopping for a bite to eat, or maybe visiting some other family members. She had a great passion for family history, which she shared with me. I was an interested audience and would happily pore over her genealogy books and records with her, listening to stories and soaking it up. I am so happy that Bethany and Connor got to know her a little bit, although she was already sick and not quite herself when they were little. She passed away while I was pregnant with Lucy, and never did know that she would be having a great-granddaughter named after her. It still seems odd to me that my grandpa never knew any of my kids, and that my grandma never knew Lucy and Mathilda.

My grandparents did so much to enrich my life. Now that I'm a parent, I'm grateful that my kids have several grandparents to do the same for them.