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| Thanksgiving 2012 |
Two weeks ago today, our beloved Grandpop passed away. My sisters and I spoke on behalf of our family at the service. I was proud of what we wrote together as it was truly a group effort to do our best to convey just how much he is loved and missed. The love, prayers, and outpouring of support (and sweets!) have certainly be felt and appreciated by our whole family. He will be forever in our hearts, and I trust we will all be together again.
Intro (Denise):
We want to thank everyone for being here today – it is clear to see how much our grandfather was loved. Since he epitomized living life to the fullest, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate him by sharing some of our family’s memories and collective life lessons.
Sweets (Steph):
One of the important life lessons Grandpop taught everyone was how to access that extra compartment in your stomach meant especially for sweets. When you thought you were too full from a great steak dinner, one always had room for dessert. From the dixie cups full of M&Ms, the handfuls of Werthers in the Buick, to the ice cream Sundaes, and Mondays, and Tuesdays... We are sorry to say that the rummage sale will be less one pile of shirts because of the inevitable spill of Hershey's syrup down the front. In his words, "How'd that get there?"
One of our favorite family memories is the elaborate gingerbread houses that Grandmom and Grandpop made each holiday season. They were filled with MnMs and decorated to the brim with candy. To this day, each Thanksgiving visit has no less than 100 gingerbread men decorated and ready to be eaten. Thanksgiving dinner in our family is an event to envy, from the amazing stuffing to the perfectly carved turkey, Grandmom and Grandpop know how to do it right. If you stopped and looked in their freezer right now, there's enough meat to last a lifetime. Being a butcher from an early age, Grandpop was incapable of passing up a good looking piece of meat while completing one his favorite pastimes, a trip to the grocery store. I think we can all recall an endless conversation with him about a favorite recipe or local restaurant.
He Knew How to Live Life to the Fullest (Laurie):
Our Grandpop retired at 55 and has encouraged us all to do the same. Since most of us will not be lucky enough to follow that lead, the life lesson regardless is that he knew how to live life to the fullest.
Grandmom and Grandpop introduced us to musical theater by taking us to see shows at the Music Box Playhouse, starting with Children's Theater (to this day though, Stephanie is afraid of Rumpelstiltskin and was not willing to take a picture with him) and later dinner shows such as Meet Me in St. Louis, A Christmas Carol, and Grandpop's favorite, ShowBoat. In fact, we were even known to arrive an hour before the theater staff - just to be sure we were not late.
In addition to being timely, we were all taught the rules and etiquette of bowling and miniature golf. I can hit the proper arrow on a bowling lane, but after that, the ball still does its own thing. We also know how to address the golf ball, and to not stand behind the person swinging the club. In spite of years of trying, none of the grandchildren ever did beat Grandpop.
In this spirit, Grandpop taught us all that it's not about the winning, it's the fun had while doing it. Grandpop loved to "deal" a winning hand to the youngest at the table just to see the pure joy on their faces when they realized they had an instant corner in Pit or the elusive and lucrative 8-9-10 of the same suit in Michigan Rummy. The looks on our faces in those moments were still recounted years later many times over.
There is no way to count the number of days we have all spent at Knobels Amusement Park over the years. When we first started going Grandmom would ride the little roller coaster, laughing that infectious laugh and Grandpop would join us for the teacups - helping us to spin our cup as hard as possible. Then they would both join us on the bumper cars - making sure we all got to bump each other as went around the track. Grandpop would usually let out a whoa or gotcha! As the years went by they were both content to follow us around the park, glad to see the grandchildren enjoying themselves even if they were no longer able to participate. Don't worry, we all enjoyed a funnel cake (or two) together. It always seemed that whenever Grandmom and Grandpop were walking or sitting on a bench together that they were holding hands...
Grandmom and Grandpop introduced us to musical theater by taking us to see shows at the Music Box Playhouse, starting with Children's Theater (to this day though, Stephanie is afraid of Rumpelstiltskin and was not willing to take a picture with him) and later dinner shows such as Meet Me in St. Louis, A Christmas Carol, and Grandpop's favorite, ShowBoat. In fact, we were even known to arrive an hour before the theater staff - just to be sure we were not late.
In addition to being timely, we were all taught the rules and etiquette of bowling and miniature golf. I can hit the proper arrow on a bowling lane, but after that, the ball still does its own thing. We also know how to address the golf ball, and to not stand behind the person swinging the club. In spite of years of trying, none of the grandchildren ever did beat Grandpop.
In this spirit, Grandpop taught us all that it's not about the winning, it's the fun had while doing it. Grandpop loved to "deal" a winning hand to the youngest at the table just to see the pure joy on their faces when they realized they had an instant corner in Pit or the elusive and lucrative 8-9-10 of the same suit in Michigan Rummy. The looks on our faces in those moments were still recounted years later many times over.
There is no way to count the number of days we have all spent at Knobels Amusement Park over the years. When we first started going Grandmom would ride the little roller coaster, laughing that infectious laugh and Grandpop would join us for the teacups - helping us to spin our cup as hard as possible. Then they would both join us on the bumper cars - making sure we all got to bump each other as went around the track. Grandpop would usually let out a whoa or gotcha! As the years went by they were both content to follow us around the park, glad to see the grandchildren enjoying themselves even if they were no longer able to participate. Don't worry, we all enjoyed a funnel cake (or two) together. It always seemed that whenever Grandmom and Grandpop were walking or sitting on a bench together that they were holding hands...
Intangibles (Denise):
Our Grandpop had a great number of “intangibles” that modeled to his children and grandchildren how to have a good laugh, to be virtuous, moral, thoughtful and kind-hearted. As he used to say, “Grandpop knows everything.”
He was a devoted husband, father, uncle, and grandfather. His love for his family was transparent, especially for Grandmom throughout their 64 years of marriage. Our Aunt Alice recalls a time when she was walking the dogs with Laurie and it began to rain; Grandpop got right in his car and drove around the neighborhood until he found them.
While that day may have been about the rain, he never needed an excuse to go out for a drive. Perhaps it was his uncanny ability to find the best parking spots everywhere we went, always telling us that they knew he was coming or that they have saved the best for us. He also had a special attachment to his 1993 Buick with an ultimate goal of 200,000 miles. The car now sits at 185,000, and we are trying to figure out how to drive “that boat” the remaining distance. The Buick also had a remote control that was a rare commodity at the time, and to the grandchildren, the car had a magical trunk that would open upon Grandpop’s command or with a wave of his hand.
Grandmom and Grandpop also made a special effort to be with us whenever possible, whether it was on our college campuses, at Grandparent’s Day, or the Ferry Stop on Cape May as a surprise for Scott and Kurt, they always went the extra mile (as there were many miles between us) to spend time with their family.
Conclusion:
For these and so many other life lessons and memories, we want to say “thank you,” in which our Grandpop would not have said “You’re Welcome” but instead responded with “You’re Velcome.”
As a tribute to our wonderful Grandfather, we ask that you all go home and make yourself a nice, big ice cream “Tuesday.”
