Grandparents

Grandparents

By Allan Olson

There is just something special about grandparents. Recently my grandparents have been on my mind; perhaps that is because of the usually overlooked Grandparents Day earlier this month.

I was fortunate enough to spend plenty of time at my grandparents’ growing up. One grandma lived less than 10 miles from us, in the town closest to our rural residence. It was always fun to go to grandma’s house, even though she lived in a small one bedroom home on a small city lot.

Over the years, it became our “hang-out” or in-between place while we waited for swimming lessons or baseball games or other various things we might have been doing during the year. Of course, we were also required to help with dishes, mow her lawn or go get her mail at the post office. That might’ve been the hardest task to master, as there was no simple key to her box. It was a turn the knob right, left, around and around backwards/forwards kind of thing. We learned to figure it out, eventually.

At grandma’s house there was always candy in the dish, or cookies in the jar, and games to be played. It was there we learned the game 10,000 Dice, and many hours were spent playing that or various card games of Rummy or Crazy 8s.

We also had to suffer through some of grandma’s programming of horrible sounding music and lame TV shows (at least to us boys – my brothers and I). When she allowed us to pick the channel, which was a good number of times, we would watch cartoons. She also let us watch the Dukes of Hazzard, something of which my mother never did approve.

I never did get to know my grandfather, who passed away a few months shy of my first birthday. But the great times at Grandma’s I couldn’t ever forget.

Luckily I had another set of excellent grandparents. However, a distance of 60 miles separated us, and the visits, while still a blast, were not as frequent.

At their rural Roseau farm home, there was no shortage of area to run, play or hide. Plenty of trees to climb, and like any grandparents, no shortage of food – especially treats, i.e. cookies, rolls, ice cream, etc. And the entertainment value was excellent, whether it was grandpa picking on grandma, or grandma pretending to get mad at us for beating her at another game of Superman (a marble game, not flying off a roof or anything), or a card game of Rummy or Crazy 8s. There we also had the added benefit of cousins our age to get in trouble with. The fun never ended.

Thankfully, I got to share my kids with at least one grandparent that added so much meaning to my life.

Now, as a parent, I’m hoping my kids will experience the same thing. When we visit our parents, the kids are always excited to go see their grandparents. At either place, there is always something exciting to do, and usually food and goodies to eat, too.

Sadly, the kids lost one grandparent and will never truly “know” him. Thankfully, they continue to love and enjoy the time spent with those that still remain.

The kids, on occasion, will remember that “Great-Grandma Alice died,” or “Grandpa Rudy died,” but their memories won’t be as strong of them. Still, hopefully, their memories will live through us so they might remember them well.

As for family affairs this weekend, it was a wedding. We had to leave the comfort of our home to attend a wedding. Abigail was very excited to go to her first wedding with her mom. I was excited to not have to go. Of course, I agreed to go the reception. Again, Abigail and Alivia were excited about the “dancing party,” as Abigail called it. I’m not sure if what they did was dancing or just playing, but they had fun. The boy’s didn’t care as much for it. Marcus participated, but Nikolai had no such desire.

The girls and I all shared a dance, and mom and I tried, but the girls cut in.

The party didn’t last long for us, as attitudes dictated that we leave early. As we were leaving the reception, I thought the kids were all with mom, while mom thought I had Abigail. She went to the van with the other three, I went back to find Abigail. We spotted each other at nearly the same time. “Where were you guys?” she asked. “I was looking for you.” I thought you were with mom,” I said, shaking my head at her. I picked her up and away we went to the van.

This weekend, don’t forget about the Cystic Fibrosis Tournament. Whatever support you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading, and remember to watch out for the buses. As always, feel free to drop us a line and/or a photo and have a great week. For more of my columns visit http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.