My grandpa passed away a couple of weeks ago at the age of 100! We are all thankful that he is in heaven, reunited with his wife and probably singing karaoke or water skiing. Grandpa was an incredible man that did so many things in his life time. He built his house in his 70's and was water skiing I think close to his 80's. 
Even though I only saw my grandpa usually once or twice a year, my time at his lake house in Wisconsin are some of my most vivid memories of childhood.
One of the first things I would do when we got to house was sneak several or maybe the whole bowl of Peppermint Patties that were set out.
Then I would go downstairs to this closet that always smelled like moth balls and get out this Ronald McDonald stuffed doll that for some reason I had a strong attachment to.
Most of our time was spent outside. There was a well next door that I always loved visiting. I also loved floating around on inner tubes in the shallow part of the lake.. except I was always afraid to touch the bottom because of the sea weed.
One of the best parts of our visits (my mom might disagree) were the water ski weekends/reunions. My grandpa would get really into planning this big showcase. The event normally started by him blowing a blow horn (one year right into my ear) Then we would all line up (one year we all wore shirts from our schools) and we would pass the mic around and share some info about ourselves. Then we topped it off by singing "on Wisconsin" After that, we would get our skis and get ready for the water skiing part of the event. Grandpa would always ask his neighbor to go out on his boat in a certain part of the lake to get additional footage. Then one by one, we would ski a particular course, ending in letting go of the rope and trying to ski into a floating laundry detergent bottle.
Grandpa was not just known for his planning abilities. He always seemed to have a new hobby. For a while, he was in to building various items out of wood in mass quantity. One year it was reindeer and another time it was clocks. Another hobby he got into was making color photo copies. He had this awesome printer and if you wanted anything blown up, he could do it for you! Then came burning cd's. This hobby lasted probably the longest. He would go to the library, pick out some cd's and then burn them for everyone. He seriously had the largest cd library of anyone I know. The best part was that he would record the cd rather than burning it, so you would often receive a cd with 3 tracks that were like 20 min long. One of his last hobbies was karaoke. VC and his girl friend Dottie would hold many shows for people in their retirement community. I really wanted Ben to experience my grandpa, so last summer we took a road trip out to the mid west and we got in a few hours of some karaoke!
Just to prepare you, we had never heard these songs before and instead of having words on the screen, he would print out the words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTUGP8JEWo
Even though his death is a real loss, I am thankful for these memories that he helped create for me.
Even though I only saw my grandpa usually once or twice a year, my time at his lake house in Wisconsin are some of my most vivid memories of childhood.
One of the first things I would do when we got to house was sneak several or maybe the whole bowl of Peppermint Patties that were set out.
Then I would go downstairs to this closet that always smelled like moth balls and get out this Ronald McDonald stuffed doll that for some reason I had a strong attachment to.
Most of our time was spent outside. There was a well next door that I always loved visiting. I also loved floating around on inner tubes in the shallow part of the lake.. except I was always afraid to touch the bottom because of the sea weed.
One of the best parts of our visits (my mom might disagree) were the water ski weekends/reunions. My grandpa would get really into planning this big showcase. The event normally started by him blowing a blow horn (one year right into my ear) Then we would all line up (one year we all wore shirts from our schools) and we would pass the mic around and share some info about ourselves. Then we topped it off by singing "on Wisconsin" After that, we would get our skis and get ready for the water skiing part of the event. Grandpa would always ask his neighbor to go out on his boat in a certain part of the lake to get additional footage. Then one by one, we would ski a particular course, ending in letting go of the rope and trying to ski into a floating laundry detergent bottle.
One of my favorite parts of our trips were the excursions to the union to get some ice cream.
Grandpa was not just known for his planning abilities. He always seemed to have a new hobby. For a while, he was in to building various items out of wood in mass quantity. One year it was reindeer and another time it was clocks. Another hobby he got into was making color photo copies. He had this awesome printer and if you wanted anything blown up, he could do it for you! Then came burning cd's. This hobby lasted probably the longest. He would go to the library, pick out some cd's and then burn them for everyone. He seriously had the largest cd library of anyone I know. The best part was that he would record the cd rather than burning it, so you would often receive a cd with 3 tracks that were like 20 min long. One of his last hobbies was karaoke. VC and his girl friend Dottie would hold many shows for people in their retirement community. I really wanted Ben to experience my grandpa, so last summer we took a road trip out to the mid west and we got in a few hours of some karaoke!
Just to prepare you, we had never heard these songs before and instead of having words on the screen, he would print out the words.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTUGP8JEWo
Even though his death is a real loss, I am thankful for these memories that he helped create for me.
