Happy Birthday, Granddad!

Happy Birthday, Granddad! Another one of my loved ones who is with You, Jesus! ❤ Oh how I miss him so. He’s been gone 40 years but I miss him like he left yesterday! I never cared for having an hero growing up, TV or real life, but my Granddad and my dad came the closest of anyone! ❤ He was loving, so protective, and very much a family man! His death was the kind that affected everyone in the family from 3 yrs old to very senior. He was very loved.

 

I love this picture because it is where our family “started”…LOL. My grandmother loved to tell us the story (a true one btw) of how she rode off on a motorcycle to marry a guy she had practically just met. They eloped to South Carolina, and on the way back they ran out of gas and had no money. A kind passerbyer gave them and the bike a ride in the back of their truck to get them back up the mountain. She got tickled when the first time I heard this story I asked, “You mean they had motorcycles back in that day.” And that was after first tickling her by asking after seeing her picture in her leather jacket, “You mean they made leather jackets back then.” 🙂

This picture was taken when my grandparents found out my granddad was dying of lung cancer. He had worked on the railroad. That is why the “I’ve been working on the railroad all the live long day” song makes me smile. It makes me think on my granddaddy. He took me to the local store every weekend to get a new coloring book and crayons. And when I was in a regional spelling bee for my 2nd grade class, he gave me a $5 bill even though I came in 6th. He said it was because my mom said the girl who came in 2nd bawled her eyes out, but I didn’t “pitch a fit like that”. He was proud of me for accepting my placement with good character. I bought a hamburger so big it wouldn’t fit in my mouth. And I remember it had purple onions. The first time I had ever seen purple onions. All of these are memories that my granddaddy gave me, and so many more.

I love and miss you, Granddad! I so look forward to your hug more than you know! ❤ Hug Jesus for me and tell Him “Thank you” for helping you to get baptized when you were so scared in the hospital. You were so afraid of dying without being baptized, and a pastor friend was able to work it out to baptize you in the therapy pool. You didn’t care that it could make you sick. You wanted Jesus! You wanted to obey him no matter the cost! ❤ You set a great example! ❤