This will be the first holiday season without my grandparents. They were wonderful.
Betty was the first woman to waterski on Fish Lake; she had a flair for fashion as a young woman and the tiniest waist I’ve ever seen on a woman. When I was a child she was my costume maker, chauffeur, and cinnamon-toast-maker extraordinaire. She never failed to remind me, the little rascal I was, ”If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say nothin’ at all”. And even when I left home, she never failed to say how proud she was of me.
Charlie was a witty old man with a sharp tongue and a big heart. My grandfather was never in the greatest health, but that didn’t stop him from saving a kid who had fallen through thin ice. He was drafted into the Air Force – and though he never went to war, he never spoke of his time in the military. But every time I left the house, he’d wink and say “Grandpa loves you”
Cleaning out their house over and early thanksgiving weekend with my mom and Ezra brought back many memories. It was so surreal. I know even when the last pieces of them leave their home, their memories will always be there – they’ll always be with me.
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