My Grandpa Was an Old Man!

[SawyerTed]

When I was a kid, my grandpa was an old man.  At least I thought so.  My first memories of him (my dad's dad) were of him wearing overalls, keeping a garden, taking a nap after lunch and telling what I thought then were boring stories about tractors, farming and gardening.  Seems like he always had a Barlow knife to give me.  Every time he came to visit in mid to late summer, he brought a car trunk with Sugar Baby round watermelons covering the bottom.

I only knew dad's parents, his mother's parents and mom's mom.  Fifty five years ago, someone in their 80's really was old.  My great grand parents were in their 80's.   My best memory of my great grandfather was of his 80th birthday celebration.  He and Grandma Brewer had 14 children, Grandma was their oldest.

Turns out I'm going to be a grandpa in April!  Thinking hard about how to be a grandpa remembered as something other than "just an old man."

BTW, I'd do almost anything to hear Grandpa tell a story about fixing the John Deere M, or growing watermelons or just about anything else. 

[sawguy21]

 8) I envy you! I never had kids, we married late in life. I lost contact with her family after she passed and really miss the little ones. Well, not so little any more. The youngest is 13.

[RetiredTech]

  Congratulations on the expected grandchild. The fact that you're thinking about what to do now, tells me you're going to be a great grandad.

[thecfarm]

When I was in my early 20's, a 50 year old was old to me.  :D

[JD Guy]

I subscribe to the old saying "If I had known how great having grandchildren was I'd have had them first" :D. We are blessed with 7   8)

[Wlmedley]

My only grandchild is now 3 years old.He was born really early only weighing 1 1/2 pounds at birth.He was in the ICU for three months during Covid and we couldn't see him.He's a little behind on his speech but is doing good.We are good buddies and one of the first words he learned was Pap Paw.At this point in life he's my greatest joy.Congratulations Ted,there's nothing like a grandchild!

[B.C.C. Lapp]

We were blessed with 0ur first grandchild 7 months ago.   Ted, all i can say is your going to love being a grandparent.  Wait till the first time your grandchild  looks at you and gives a big smile and reaches out for you.  If your heart don't just melt you may not have one.  :D We have our grandson every morning for a few hours while my daughter milks and does some chores.    I have to go out for work early as well most days but I still get to see him for a half hour before I go.   He is at our house quite a bit really. 
Being grandpa is about the best thing that's happened to me.   That little guy spreads joy and happiness every where he goes.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

When I was in my early 20's, a 50 year old was old to me.  :D

When I was 17 I got work helping two old guys build a large pole barn. (I thought at that time.  They were really only late 50ies or early sixties.)  One day one of them didnt show up and the other told me he was home cause sometimes his prostate bothered him.  I wondered what a prostate was.  At that age I didn't know I had a prostate. :D :D :D

[moodnacreek]

When I was a kid, my grandpa was an old man.  At least I thought so.  My first memories of him (my dad's dad) were of him wearing overalls, keeping a garden, taking a nap after lunch and telling what I thought then were boring stories about tractors, farming and gardening.  Seems like he always had a Barlow knife to give me.  Every time he came to visit in mid to late summer, he brought a car trunk with Sugar Baby round watermelons covering the bottom.

I only knew dad's parents, his mother's parents and mom's mom.  Fifty five years ago, someone in their 80's really was old.  My great grand parents were in their 80's.   My best memory of my great grandfather was of his 80th birthday celebration.  He and Grandma Brewer had 14 children, Grandma was their oldest.     You had  the grandfather many kids don't get. It is a shame we don't really get it until we are older. I miss mine everyday, he had a tractor and planted sweet corn and milked a cow. The things he did that where boring then I do today. I deeply regret not thanking my grandparents for the examples I learned from.

Turns out I'm going to be a grandpa in April!  Thinking hard about how to be a grandpa remembered as something other than "just an old man."

BTW, I'd do almost anything to hear Grandpa tell a story about fixing the John Deere M, or growing watermelons or just about anything else.

[dogone]

     My grandfather would sit in his car and keep an eye on me while I drove the tractor doing field work. He and his buddies seemed old at 70. They were wore out from physical labor. Most were stooped
And used a cane.He lived to be 89.
     I had my first grandchild at 70. Hoping to see him grow into a fine young man.
     I am glad to know others remember their grandparents. I feel I honour mine when I think of them.
     

[Tom King]

About 13 years ago I ran into a friend when we were in school together.  I said, "Hey Ronnie, you remember when we thought a 60 year old man was an old man?"

Ronnie said, "Ain't old no more!"

[Old Greenhorn]

I only knew one Grandfather and he passed in 1960 at 84 when I was 5. Still I have good memories of him with the little time I had. All the others were gone long before I existed. My fraternal grandmother passed in 1972 at 97, and I was 17 so I got a bunch of time with her and have very fond memories both of her sternness and humor. My Mom's side of the family I only knew her Mother who had psychiatric issues her whole life due to a very rough life and abusive husband.
Keeping in mind that my grandparents were all born in the 1870's, it is understandable that my life never overlapped with any of my great grandparents who were born in the 1830's or so.
My Grandsons were lucky they did get to meet their great grandfather but I don't know how much they will remember, they might remember their great grandmother more who lived and 1.5 years or so longer.
As for what they might think of me, well they know I'm old and they sure know I can fix stuff. But they are very tuned into their 'devices' it's hard to get them off their butts, but sometimes I do succeed.

[twar]

I was fortunate to have both maternal and paternal grandparents until I was a teenager. Both sets of grandparents lived on farms out in the country. When I was a young boy, I thought that grandparents, by definition, were "old people who live on farms". Much to my surprise, I discovered that some of my friends had grandparents who did not live in the country (nor did they grow tomatoes and corn).

[RetiredTech]

  Both of Dads parents passed while I was still in school. Mom's parents both lived into 90's. I miss them all. I remember Pawpaw working on wood projects in his shop and me getting into trouble for driving tacks in his work bench at his shoe shop. Granny made the best divinity every year for Christmas. Granddaddy taught me to mend fence, work the cows and milk the old milk cow. Grandma was the last to pass. You never went to her house that the table wasn't full of food. Usually enough to feed an army. We live on Granddaddy's farm now. There are no cows, pigs, chickens or goats anymore. We found that trees are much easier to keep from walking away and most predators leave them alone. But those old memories are burned into my mind. I've been so blessed.

[Stephen1]

I have 5 grandchildren now and love every moment I get to spend with them. 2 live 16 hr drive away in Northern Quebec but I get to see them 1-2 times a year for a week or so. The other 3 live closer ,only an hour drive.
I remember all 4 of my grandparents. 2 lived into their early 70's. My moms parents lived a very active life into their 90's. Her Dad played golf until he was 91. He would walk 18 holes. he got minor heat stroke one hot April day , the doctor suggested, since he was 91, that  he play only 9 holes or take an electric cart. 'I quite if I can't walk 18 holes'. After that he would get in his car everyday and drive 35 mins to his daughters house and take her  2 dogs for a 2 mile walk separately. Before winter he moved in with mother for his last few months, walking each dog separate. He could not handle 2 dogs on a leash at once.

[barbender]

 Twar, it is interesting what you said about thinking that grandparents by definition lived on a farm in the country, since all of yours did. It is a good illustration on how our particular perspective colors our view of reality!

A little story that will also illustrate this point- my Dad is native (1/2 actually) my Mom is white. Out of us 7 kids, only my one sister looks native. I tease my Mom that she must have "dominant honky genes"😁

Anyways, my sister went to Spain as a foreign exchange student while in College as a Spanish language major. While she was there, she had friends that were exchange students from other European countries. Germany and France, if memory serves. So one night these girls got to asking Aimee of her ethnic background. When Aimee explained that her Dad was Native American these girls got enthusiastic, saying, "so he rides a horse and lives in one of the cone things?" (teepee😂) Aimee explained that no, he wasn't like the ones they might've seen in an American movie. He lived in a house, and not only did he not ride a horse, he was kind of afraid of them. They really had a hard time wrapping their heads around this information!😂😂

Both of these stories make me pause and wonder what skewed perspective I might have about others sometimes.

I shared a little bit about my still living Grandpa in another thread. I consider myself extremely blessed to still have him, I am 48 and he is 89. He's bent and has to use a walker, (another body wore out from years of physical labor) and he can't see much anymore which is probably the hardest thing for him. However, he is still very sharp mentally. He gets upset that his recall of names from 80 years ago isn't instant like it used to be. He'll try to remember a name of someone, and have to move on in what he is talking about. Then in about 5 minutes the name will come. He never actually forgets.

On my Mom's side, both my Grandpa and Grandma made it into their 90's. Grandma I spent a lot of summers with out in her home in Wyoming. Her and Grandpa were seperated and I really didn't know him very well until I was a young adult. Grandpa liked the ladies and was married 3 times with the accompanying family strife and hardships.

My Dad's Mom died too young at 73. She had some of the health complications that are common to Natives, like diabetes and heart disease. She was a fine lady, with one of the best senses of humor I have known. She had a very hard life, one part of which was being in a car accident when she was a young girl around 10. She ended up getting an infection in an injury to her right (dominant) arm, then gangrene and it had to be amputated. So she got to re-learn how to write, and do life with her left hand. My whole life, I never once heard her complain or say she couldn't do something because she only had one arm. In fact, unless I actually saw her stub, I tended to forget she was missing an arm at all. I certainly never thought of her as "disabled".

Speaking of that stub- a little story that will highlight Grandma Faye's wonderful sense of humor. When my niece was about 3, she noticed Grandma's arm stub. I should describe it- her arm had been amputated about halfway between her elbow and shoulder. The way the doctor had closed the amputation up, the skin was puckered and looked very similar to the end of a tube of summer sausage- complete with the little nub where the skin had been tied or stitched together.

Well that stub caught my toddler niece's eye one day, and once she noticed it she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She approached Grandma, and if Grandma was looking away the neice would stick her finger out and try to touch that little nub of skin. But if Grandma looked back at her she would quickly pull her hand back. She would get close to it and them she was a bit hesitant to touch it, too, as badly as she wanted to. On and on this went, with Grandma laughing so hard she was crying😂😂😂 I still have that image in my head of that little finger poking out like E.T.😂

Another one where Grandma was a good sport- I've mentioned before that I'm a pretty "large" guy, some here have compared me to the Sasquatch😂 I'm over 6'5" and 300, Grandma was 5' tall if she had her hair puffed up😊

Well, one time Grandma was going to ride out to Wyoming with me to visit family. I had a '91 Dodge 3/4 ton, no running boards. So we were trying to get Grandma up in the Dodge, my Mom suggested she step up on a 5 gallon bucket that was handy. I thought the bucket was too tippy, so I said I would just give Grandma a boost. Now I mentioned that Grandma was scarcely 5' tall...well she had managed to pack enough onto that little 5' frame that I evidently grossly underestimated what I was getting into, because as I lifted and gave Granma a heave up, right over backwards we went and landed in a pile😂😂 I was on the bottom, so no harm to Grandma, and the only reason we couldn't get back to our feet was we were laughing so hard. That also explained how my Mom also ended up on the ground, I swear we were all crying😂😂

So Grandma was a little Portly, and it caused me to lose strength, but it wasn't anything that would ever hurt Grandma's feelings! A good belly laugh and move on 😊

[barbender]

 A couple more pictures of my Granpa Alvy, I don't have pictures of any of the others handy at the moment.

Grandpa pickin a bit, probably about 10 years ago-



 

Grandpa and my Dad, probably early 90's. Dad even has acid wash beans on😁



 

Grandpa played in country ("Western Swing" he calls itn he goes back that far) bands, and was a gigging musician for many years. They lived out in California for many years, and he had a band that a radio station would hire to come in and play for a set number of hours, live. I suppose this would've been in the late 50's early 60's. Dad told me that Grandpa shared the stage with Buck Owens and some of the other big name California country musicians. But Grandpa had to get home and get to bed so he could get up and go to work in the morning, he had a family to feed.

Grandpa ran a form setting crew for a concrete outfit out there around Los Angeles. Sometimes, Grandpa would tell me stories about the "Okies" he had on his crew. He said once in a while, one of the Okies would bust out a guitar on lunch break. He said, "they were good, too! But pretty soon they were all singin' and dancin', and you couldn't get them to go back to work!"😂

One time me and Grandpa set forms for a concrete garage apron. When the redi-mix truck got there, the driver looked our forms over curiously. Finally, he asked Grandpa, "where'd you learn to set forms like that?" Well as it turned out, this driver used to drive mixer truck for an outfit in LA, and he had only seen that style of formwork out there. As they got visiting, they realized he had probably hauled Grandpa mud out in LA before! Small world!

Unfortunately, as a dumb 18 year old, I was more worried about what girl I was going to chase than what kind of forms I was putting up, and I don't even remember what was different about them. I think they were referred to "overhead" forms.

[SawyerTed]

A short story about Grandma.

One of my oldest cousins spent time serving our country in the Vietnam War.  He was raised by Grandma and Grandpa.

He told the story of he and his soldier buddies talking about what scared them most during a down time.  There were all kinds of stories of war, ghosts and goblins, heights, water, spiders and so on. 

My cousin said nothing ever scared him as much as when he saw Grandma drop her teeth!  :D

[barbender]

 Terrifying!😂😂

[Magicman]

My young Daughter was watching my Mother brush her teeth.  Of course she had them in her hands and when she popped them into her mouth, my Daughter gulped and said; "she ate um".   

[sawguy21]

I don't have a lot of memories off my grandparents. My dads mother died when I was 7, we never knew his father who deserted them when he was a few months old. Mom's parents were a bit of a mystery as we hardly ever saw them, they lived in Ontario and died when I was quite young.

[Ljohnsaw]

Not sure if my dad's dad was alive when I was born. I just know he passed at 52 and my dad at 53. So my kids never met my dad. His mom lived into her 80s. She was a very witty lady. But she passed way before we had our daughter.

My mom's dad passed at 86,  iirc, a few weeks after my dad passed. Her mom passed in her 90s.

So, my kids only knew my mom and she passed at 76 when my son was 5.

On my wife's side, my daughter met her dad when she was less than a year old. We all saw her step mom one last time when our daughter was 11, a year before our son was born.

[Wlmedley]

My father was killed in a truck accident when I was 2 years old. I have no recollection of him at all.His father (my pap paw) became my father figure and I thought the world of him.He always seemed to have time for me no matter what he was doing.He took me to get a haircut whenever he thought I needed one and I can remember watching the road go under us though the holes in the floorboards of his old gmc truck. I told my son I may not have known exactly how to be a father but I'm sure I know how to be a pap paw because I had a perfect example.