Grandpa Stewart

I am interrupting my 1 year break from the blog to reminisce a little about my Grandpa Stewart who just passed away this last weekend.

I've been thinking about him a lot and about what I loved about the time I got to spend with him.  Some of my favorite memories are of his jokes and sense of humor.

 Grandpa lived with us for a little while during the summer and had a room in the basement.  We were often playing in the room directly above and were more than a little noisy....we were young and like to pretend to be dogs... no matter how many times he asked us to stop jumping around. Once we were playing and were shocked to hear the vacuum start up and see Grandpa come rushing in, waving the hose after us as we ran away screaming!  The best part is that, years later, my friend Christina and I were just sitting and talking in a room at Springlake when the door swung open and he rushed in with the vacuum roaring and chased us around the room! 

 I always liked my Grandparents relationship and how they looked out for each other and loved each other. We made a quilt for Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and after admiring it, Grandpa got down and proposed again to his wife.  I love this picture.  He's got his goofy grin and you can just see and hear Grandma saying, "Oh Boyd!"

 Grandpa was so good and patient when playing with us.  We played many a game of Checkers together when I was young, and he often let me win. (he delighted in coming up with strange ways to try and cheat and drive me crazy)  I loved seeing that again during one visit when he and Anna spent a long time helping each other blow bubbles.  Later there was endless game of hide-and-go-seek that he was a chuckling participant of. He kept trying to convince the girls to hide in places that were super easy to find.

I have many memories of spending time with him at up at the Weber at family reunions. He taught me a lot there. He was always working and puttering but could often be found sitting in a chair on the porch, whittling. He was even willing to help us all take a turn learning to "whittle and spit."  He also helped us to ride horses there and I was so impressed with how capable and good he was with them.  We were once sent to get a horse and chased it all over the field trying to catch it. Grandpa showed up with bucket of oats and shook it and the horse came running right up to him.  He laughed but also kindly let me try my hand at putting the bridle and saddle on too.  Next time we remembered the oats.

Last year we got to go out for a visit and Grandpa and Grandma got to meet Baby Tyler.  Grandpa was fading at that point and didn't have much energy, but he smiled and loved watching the kids play.  Family was always so important to him and I'm glad my kids were lucky enough to meet him.  I'm grateful for the time I got to spend with him. I'm grateful that this goodbye is not forever. Love you Grandpa.