Z is for the End

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.

Gramps's favorite place; the lake at sunset

There aren't any words that begin with "Z" to go with Gramps, but there was one word that he and I made up together.  

"Sikeemuzzah" - It didn't really have a meaning. We used it as an exclamation. Then we would continue speaking in our own nonsense language, and somehow we knew what the other person was saying.  

We had so much fun together and I'm thankful for every minute I was able to spend with him. I still have times when I think, "Oh I have to call and ask Gramps how to fix that towel rack in the bathroom," or "I have to show Gramps a picture of my blooming orchids." Then my heart sinks, because I know I can't.  

I know he was ready to go. He wondered for years why he was left on this Earth for so long without Grams. And now he is finally with her, but it doesn't make the loss easier for us who are left behind.

****


I wish you all could have really known Gramps, I'm sure he would have loved talking to you virtually. He would have marveled at the thought of making friends all over the world. I think part of the reason I enjoy getting to meet all of you is because of the curiosity he inspired in me to learn about others.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your posts! I didn't get to as many as I would have liked but I will continue to visit people on the list.

Gramps and our family

I hope you all enjoyed this year's A-Z Challenge as much as I did and congratulations to everyone who completed it!!

Kathy :)

X is for Xercise and Y is for Yay! Yay! Yay!

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  

X is for Xercise

Gramps never believed in exercise.  Not the way we normally think of exercise anyway, like jogging, P90X,  Zoomba, Spinning, Yoga and weight training.  His exercise was in the work he did, carrying heavy blocks and boards at construction sites, chopping firewood, raking leaves, and mowing grass.  Most of his leisure time was spent active as well.  He loved biking the 5 miles around the lake, ice skating outdoors in the winter, and he enjoyed slalom water skiing until he was seventy. Most of all, he loved chasing and wrestling his grandchildren and great grandchildren.  With all that going on, who needed exercise?

Gramps at his cottage with great friends. Yay Yay Ya!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

Whenever anything unexpectedly good happened, Gramps would exclaim, “Yay! Yay! Yay!”  It could be something as small as kids jumping into his lap, some old friends or relatives stopping in for a surprise visit or as big as taking his grandkids to Florida.  Whatever the occasion, he was thankful for it.  

In his last months, he told me that his mother used to say, “Always be thankful for the little things, because the big things may not happen.”  Throughout his life he had lived by that statement.  He always felt blessed for the wonderful people and events that touched his life, and there were so many.

“How lucky can a guy be?” he would say when reflecting on the special people in his life.  

Three people whom he always said this about was my husband, Jesse,  and my mother and father-in-law, Reiko and Dave.  Twenty years ago they came into his life and brought him so much joy.  Gramps loved my husband as if he were his fourth grandchild and he took my in-laws in as if they had always been a part of our family.  He cherished sitting with them on his deck at the cottage, gazing out over the water and talking for hours on everything from bird watching to politics.   They became so close that four years ago we had all planned a family vacation to Reiko’s native Japan.  My parents and Gramps were going to join us.  Gramps wanted to see the temples and visit Reiko’s brother, Eiichi,  whom he’d met years ago at our wedding.  

Unfortunately, we were never able to make it there with him.  But two years ago, Reiko’s brother came to Michigan to visit him.  Gramps showed him so much kindness that on his last day, Eiichi teared up saying how he now understood the true meaning of family and was thankful his sister was part of it.

Those are only some of the people Gramps felt so thankful to have in his life. I was blessed having Gramps in my life for as long as I did. How lucky can a girl be?  

Gramps taking everyone for a boat ride

*****

Now for the "Y" shout outs! (Couldn't find any for "X")

Laura Bambrey

Hope everyone has a great day and that you're able to say "Yay! Yay! Yay!" to something today! I can't believe tomorrow is the last day already! Thanks so much for all the great comments and support. Make sure to check everyone else out here.

Kathy :)

W is for Wrong

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.

Gramps and Alyssa with fish, about 4 years ago

Gramps was self-confident.  Some people may have even thought him arrogant.  One of his favorite lines was, “Once I thought I was wrong, but I was really right.”  In all the time I knew him, there were only a handful of times he was wrong.

One time I was riding in the car with Gramps and Grams to a relative’s wedding.  It was being held in a big city about an hour away.  In the dark ages, before GPS, we trusted that Gramps knew where he was going.  We of course were running late because my family always does.  Gramps exited off the highway and drove around where he thought the church would be.  It was not there.  We drove around the block a couple times.  Agitated, Grams said, “We’re lost.  We need to ask someone or we’ll miss the wedding.”     

“Oh I’m not lost.  I know exactly where I am.  I just don’t know how to get where I’m supposed to be,” Gramps said.

Grams tried to hold back her smile but she couldn’t.  We all laughed and I think we stopped at a gas station for directions.  We did make it to the wedding just in time.

There was another time I remember when I felt Gramps was in the wrong.  Once, when I was about eight, he came over before school.  I was upset about something and I started crying.  But instead of comforting me, Gramps began to laugh.  My cheeks burned and tears of anger flowed instead.  How dare he? I thought.  Thoroughly embarrassed, I stopped crying.  I guess he was trying to make me tough, maybe he was right after all.

****

Now for the "W" shout outs.

Miranda Hardy

Talli Roland

Ciara Knight

Laura Eno

Have a wonderous "W" day!  Check out all the A-Zers here.

Kathy :)

V is for Voice

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.

Gramps rockin' in his favorite chair with his great-grandkids

Gramps always enjoyed music.  He never played an instrument, but he loved listening to others. He believed it was good for the soul.   Musicals like The Music Man, South Pacific, and Oklahoma, delighted him, though he never actually went to the theater until he was in his eighties.  He also enjoyed the Three Tenors and the Celtic Women.  He opened up my musical horizons which had previously consisted of only my dad’s Elvis and Beatles records.

The one instrument he did use was his voice.  He loved to sing.  My mom even surprised him with voice lessons for his 90th birthday, which he enjoyed.  

Often he sang Amazing Grace and other hymns, but his favorite song was based on the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, The Swing, though the words were slightly different from the original. His mother used to sing it to him as a little boy and she must have changed the words accidentally.   This is the version he used to sing as he pushed us in the swing or rocked us to sleep on his lap.  

“How would you like to go up in the air,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it’s the pleasantest thing

Ever a child could do!

To go up in the air,

And over the wall

‘Til I can see so wide.

Rivers and streams gardens and all

Over the countryside-

‘Til I look down on the gardens green,

Up on the roof so high

Up in the air I go flying again

Up in the air and down

and down

Up in the air and down.”

    

 These were also the last words to escape his lips.  As he lay dying, he and my mom sang this over and over until he was sleeping.

****

Now for the "V" shout outs!

Lee Strauss

Have a vonderful "V" day! Check out other A-Zers here.

Kathy :)

U is for Unbelievable

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  

Gramps reading my writing

Gramps was unbelievable in many ways.  Literally you could not believe everything he said because half the time he was joking.  I knew to look in his eyes for the truth.  They had this certain gleam when he was trying to fool someone.    

He also had an unbelievable ability to judge distance, time, and volume without the aid of any measuring tool.  Throughout the day, I would test him by asking him what time it was when there was no clock in sight.  Often he would only be a couple of minutes off.  

If we went fishing and caught a fish, I asked him its length, then I would measure it to see how close he was.  Almost always within an inch!  I was amazed.  I thought maybe he had some special Jedi measuring powers, but he was simply a man who had spent his whole life measuring construction materials and now he could guess them about as close as he could measure them.

More than anything though he made people feel unbelievably special.  He took great care to not only talk to people but listen to them as well.  He was totally engaged in what they were saying and wanted them to share their experiences so he could learn from them.

I will always treasure the countless adventures that we had together.

****

Now for the "U" shout outs!

Roland Yeomans

Jessica Therrien

Milo James Fowler

Have an unbelievably great "U" day!  Find other A-Zers here. 

Kathy :)

T is for Teach

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th, 2013.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.

Gramps teaching Ryan to drive the boat

When I look back at Gramps’s life one quality stands out; he was a teacher.  Not in the traditional school setting, but he was passionate about sharing his knowledge with others.  Often his teaching was subtle.  Many times he asked us grandkids to help him with his projects.  We learned how to build things without even knowing we were learning.  He spent a lot of time talking to us and encouraged us to think.  Like an ancient Roman philosopher, he didn’t tell us answers but guided us to ask our own questions and come up with our own solutions.  

Many of our lessons were simply by his example.  One time the septic tank at his cottage needed to be repaired, so he and my dad and my older brother dug it up.  They had to break up the old one so the new one could be installed... and oh did it smell!  I don’t know exactly what they were doing because I was a girl and therefore was saved from joining in on this disgusting task.  But I remember them standing in that pit working and cracking jokes the whole time.  Gramps could make the best out of even the crappiest of jobs.  

Occasionally,  his lessons taught us something that even he wasn’t expecting.  Like the time he and I found a little garter snake in our yard.  My grandma told him not to pick it up.  He bent down saying, “Oh these little guys don’t bite.”  He grabbed it and it’s tiny little head jerked back and bit his thumb.  A little trickle of blood ran down his hand.  “Ouch!” he yelled.  I learned that though garter snakes may not be deadly, they certainly can bite...and maybe I can’t trust everything Gramps says.

****
Now for the "T" shout outs!

Clarissa Draper

Reiko McKendry

Jessica Bell

Have a terrific "T" day.  Visit the other A-Zers here.

Kathy :)

S is for Surprise

 

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  

Gramps and Alyssa at her skating competition

Gramps didn't talk too much about his childhood other than those stories that all older people tell of walking barefoot uphill both directions through the snow to school everyday.  But there was one story that he loved to tell everyone he knew. Every time he told it, he laughed so hard tears streamed down his cheeks.

In the 1930s the Great Depression was at its worst in America.  One summer during that time, when Gramps was about 9, he and his friends went out in the woods to explore.  They caught a number of little garter snakes  and decided they could use the skins and maybe even make some money.  So they cleaned them.  But now they needed a way to tan the hides.  If they left the skins outside another animal might carry them off.  

One of the boys suggested they do it in an oven.  They all agreed that was the best way. So they scurried off to someone’s house, whose mother was not at home, and turned the oven on low.  They laid the snake skins in and closed the oven door.  Then they went back outside to play in the boy’s yard while they waited.  

They were busy playing stick ball when a scream pierced the air.  They ran into the house to find the boy’s mother looking in her oven.

Now for the "S" shout outs!

Elle Strauss

Jessica Bell

Michael Offut

M. Pax

Elana Johnson

Have a super "S" day! And check here for all the other great entries!

Kathy :)

R is for Rings

Well, lately my weekends have been crazier than my weekdays, but they sure have been fun! So I'm late in posting again.  Sorry guys!  I'll post "S" later today.

PT’s 91 Years of Wisdom

This year, I had a terrible time trying to figure out what my A-Z theme would be.  I finally decided that this year, I would honor my beloved 91 year old grandfather, Paul Titus, or PT as his friends called him, who passed away on February 8th.  He lived a wonderfully full life and was always trying to challenge my brothers and me to think out of the box.  So for this challenge I thought I would share little bits of his wisdom that he tried to bestow upon us.  

But I also want to highlight the wonderful bloggers in this community who have published their books.  So everyday, I will give a quick  shout out to those works with titles beginning with the letter of the day.  

Gramps with me and my husband

One day when I was about eight, I went to the mall with Gramps, Grams, and my mom.  We split up because Gramps and I just wanted to sit and watch all the people go by while Grams and Mom were off in the dress shops.  But then Gramps decided he wanted to wander around.  So,  hand in hand we went exploring.  When we entered a diamond store, my little heart beat faster.  I was thrilled to see real diamonds, rubies and emeralds, like a real princess would wear.

Gramps asked to see some of the diamond rings.  So the dark-haired lady at the counter reached down and brought them up for us to inspect.  Oh they were so sparkly!  

She smiled at me with her perfectly painted red lips and asked, “What do you think of this one?” She held up a ring with three tiers of small diamonds set in circles around a center stone.

“It’s beautiful,” I said.  I had never seen anything so pretty.    

“What’s the occasion?” the lady asked Gramps.

“Oh, it’s our anniversary,” he said grinning ear to ear.  My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Gramps, it is not!” I said admonishing him.  

I of course knew he was joking, but the lady played along asking me which ones I liked best.  I was mortified! He certainly loved being different! 

Later that year he gave Grams the beautiful tiered ring for their 40th anniversary and I was glad to have been there when he picked it out.

****
Now for the "R" shout outs!

Elana Johnson

Ciara Knight

Have a romantic "R" day!
Check out all the other A-Zers here.

Kathy :)