Grandpa & Me...

I took a trip to the store with one of my sons this afternoon and the way he was dressed reminded me of a photo of me and my grandfather.

I look to be about six or seven years old when this picture was taken. When I was young I was small for my age (sometimes the shortest one in my entire class...). I know I wasn't older than 10-years old in this picture because my grandfather died before I turned 10. 

The funniest thing about this picture--to me--is that I remember that coat. I'm pretty sure my mom made the shirt, and those pants...well, you can't buy those just anywhere.

I remember other things in this picture as well. That lamp that hung above the couch. I remember that. Grandpa had furniture expected in a widowed diary farmer's house--very simple and humble. Just to the left (my left in the picture...) an archway led into the kitchen where a huge stove doubled as the thing that cooked the food and warmed the house. Unfortunately, the stove worked well for the former and terrible for the latter. That was the coldest house I've ever been in.

This may be the only picture I have with me and my grandfather. And, he was the only grandfather I ever knew...in fact, he was the only grandparent I ever knew. My mother's mother (mormor in Danish...) passed away before I was born and my mom never met her in-laws. They died before she met my dad. It's still hard to believe that my father's father (farfar in Danish...) was born in the 1880's.

Today my son was standing in the isle looking for a gift and I knew I had today's blog post topic. I wonder if I'll get to stand and have a picture with my grandson. I hope so. If I do, I'm sure I'll again be the one dressed in the memorable clothes...