(no subject)
i am trying to write a eulogy on my grandpa. luckily, this is only for my effective speaking class. It is hard none the less, for a few reasons. i'm stuck as to where to start, so i asked my mom for some of her memories/thoughts on him and this is what she sent:
kay. A lot of my memories about Grandpa revolve around the outdoors,
which is why I think I picked up a love and appreciation of nature. I
think I have told you before that my first memory (and I was likely
under the age of 2 at the time) was him taking me out to the patio to show
me a frog that he had captured in a bucket... I know he caught it just
so he could show his kids. We used to go camping a lot as well,
usually in California (Yosemite, Sequoia National Park, etc.), but in 1969,
we visited about 9 or so of the western states and I feel very blessed
to have seen some of the most beautiful natural sites that this country
has to offer in a time when they were relatively unspoiled and not so
trampled on by tourists. I saw Bison, bears, deer, and moose in the
wild, not just in zoos. And of course, there was that time he and I saw a
mountain lion at Lake Almanor (you were asleep in the back seat). But
besides the big stuff of nature, he also gave me an appreciation in
more day-to-day experiences. We used to go outside at night when I was
little to look at the stars (he had a pretty rudimentary knowledge of the
plantes, stars and constellations... he could point out Venus and the
Big Dipper, so it wasn't that he was trying to pass on some knowledge
he possessed about astronomy, it was really just the overall beauty of
so many points of light that he wanted me to see.) and I used to follow
him all around the yard when I was little and he was doing his yard
work. I got to know the names of plants and flowers that way and used to
love to snatch earthworms safely away from his spade when he was
digging holes. (Nana once told me that she came out and found me playing with
spiders! Daddylonglegs! Imagine that... I think she must have had a
strong reaction to seeing me do that and probably instilled a repulsion
for spiders since... we know it wasn't Grandpa that did it.). We would
save baby birds and catch polywogs and little frogs. The beach was
another place we would go... not just in the summertime. I remember
playing in tidepools in cold weather (and coming home to apple pie baked by
Nana!). And of course there were the pets that we had... not many
people I know living in the suburbs were indulged with baby ducks to raise
"just because." I don't know why I thought I wanted ducks as pets but I
got them. I just think of him as being a very gentle soul, slow to
anger, very patient, and very pleased to be a father. He is a smart
person in a lot of ways too, not just about things but about people (as was
his mother), so we had somebody who was able to share the world in a
special way and also somebody who tended to our hearts and minds as
well. I don't have any awful stories about what a lousy father he was or
what poor choices he made, or how I ever felt undervalued. In fact, I
think each of his kids may secretly harbor the notion that he or she is
his personal favorite. And I think he made a very good husband... Nana
loves him dearly and respects him and I feel very fortunate to have
grown up in the safety and comfort of their very strong marriage. Grandpa
is somebody I would really, really like if he weren't my dad. If he
were to be portrayed in a movie, I think Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper
would be perfectly suited for the role. Don't you.
Talk to ya later, Baby Girl.
one of the sweetest, most accurate things i have ever read.
kay. A lot of my memories about Grandpa revolve around the outdoors,
which is why I think I picked up a love and appreciation of nature. I
think I have told you before that my first memory (and I was likely
under the age of 2 at the time) was him taking me out to the patio to show
me a frog that he had captured in a bucket... I know he caught it just
so he could show his kids. We used to go camping a lot as well,
usually in California (Yosemite, Sequoia National Park, etc.), but in 1969,
we visited about 9 or so of the western states and I feel very blessed
to have seen some of the most beautiful natural sites that this country
has to offer in a time when they were relatively unspoiled and not so
trampled on by tourists. I saw Bison, bears, deer, and moose in the
wild, not just in zoos. And of course, there was that time he and I saw a
mountain lion at Lake Almanor (you were asleep in the back seat). But
besides the big stuff of nature, he also gave me an appreciation in
more day-to-day experiences. We used to go outside at night when I was
little to look at the stars (he had a pretty rudimentary knowledge of the
plantes, stars and constellations... he could point out Venus and the
Big Dipper, so it wasn't that he was trying to pass on some knowledge
he possessed about astronomy, it was really just the overall beauty of
so many points of light that he wanted me to see.) and I used to follow
him all around the yard when I was little and he was doing his yard
work. I got to know the names of plants and flowers that way and used to
love to snatch earthworms safely away from his spade when he was
digging holes. (Nana once told me that she came out and found me playing with
spiders! Daddylonglegs! Imagine that... I think she must have had a
strong reaction to seeing me do that and probably instilled a repulsion
for spiders since... we know it wasn't Grandpa that did it.). We would
save baby birds and catch polywogs and little frogs. The beach was
another place we would go... not just in the summertime. I remember
playing in tidepools in cold weather (and coming home to apple pie baked by
Nana!). And of course there were the pets that we had... not many
people I know living in the suburbs were indulged with baby ducks to raise
"just because." I don't know why I thought I wanted ducks as pets but I
got them. I just think of him as being a very gentle soul, slow to
anger, very patient, and very pleased to be a father. He is a smart
person in a lot of ways too, not just about things but about people (as was
his mother), so we had somebody who was able to share the world in a
special way and also somebody who tended to our hearts and minds as
well. I don't have any awful stories about what a lousy father he was or
what poor choices he made, or how I ever felt undervalued. In fact, I
think each of his kids may secretly harbor the notion that he or she is
his personal favorite. And I think he made a very good husband... Nana
loves him dearly and respects him and I feel very fortunate to have
grown up in the safety and comfort of their very strong marriage. Grandpa
is somebody I would really, really like if he weren't my dad. If he
were to be portrayed in a movie, I think Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper
would be perfectly suited for the role. Don't you.
Talk to ya later, Baby Girl.
one of the sweetest, most accurate things i have ever read.