Remembering My Dad

Grandma J's father died in his early 50's.  He was a smart but quiet man.  He was funny when you least expected it.  He loved his family.

Like so many fathers, he took most of the pictures that end up on the family albums, so there are few of him to enjoy.  

Grandma J has his Army picture.....somewhere.  But, she wants to share this worn and tattered one with you, because this is how she remembers him the most.  Relaxing at the beach. The best memories ever.

click on photo to enlarge

This particular one was taken at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire in the early fifties.   When they still lived in Rhode Island, Grandma J's family spent their  vacations there every summer.  Grandma J's uncle owned several bungalow cottages and let them have one for a couple of weeks every year.  She remembers all the fun times with her cousins on the boardwalk at night.

Grandma J loves the old ice truck in the background, and her dad's Sperry Topsiders with his cigarettes tucked inside. 

Is it any wonder Grandma J's father moved his family to a beach side community when they moved to CA?    

xoxo Grandma J

NO, SHE DIDN'T!





Little Susie goes home from school and tells her mum that the boys keep asking her to do cartwheels because she's very good at them!!

Mum said : " YOU should say NO! They only want to look at your undies".

Susie said: " I know they do, that's why I hide them in my backpack"!!


Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and to my son and three sons-in-law who are the best dads ever.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
especially if you thought it was Mother's Day or my birthday, so you pampered the living daylights out of me...

Really and truly, that's how I felt today.

My Father passed away thirty five years ago, so I usually celebrate with whomever I live near. Like my son or one of my sons-in-law.

This year it was my Texas daughter, her husband and my grandkids. I baked a chocolate bundt cake with almond flavored glaze for my son-in-law, and brought it over with a small gift from his "other son", JJ, accompanied by this picture for his "Dad".

We all headed out to the movies to see something guys like. But really, it was not too bad, I was surprised that I liked it, but I did.
After the movie, we went out for a bite to eat. Some of us were hungry, some weren't really, so we decided to go to our favorite deli, Jason's. I had a fruit platter, my grandson had a baked potato and my daughter and her husband had sandwiches. My granddaughter picked a bit off each plate. It worked out great.

So while we're chit chatting, I happen to ask if my granddaughter, who has humongous bigger feet than I do, might have some hiking boots or cold weather shoes I could borrow for my cruise because I live in flip flops or my New Balance walking shoes that are too light weight for traipsing around the Alaskan Tundra.. I don't even know if there is such a place as the Alaskan Tundra but it sounded like a good place to visit. It turns out her boots are size 10...yeah, well unless I wear six pairs of socks, that won't work.

My darling son-in-law, Master Sergeant John,says "let's go to the mall and look around for some hiking boots". Off we go, and we look in several stores. He like totally waits on me hand and foot, bringing me stuff to try on.
I finally decide on these.
Nice and versatile. The kicker? Before I can get my Sunday best flip flops on, my daughter is paying for my new shoes! So you see why I figured they had their holidays mixed up...or else, as I asked on the way home, "did my doctor call and say be extra nice because I was terminal or something"?

So now, I'll quit bragging about how blessed I am, and how fortunate I am to have such great kids and grandkids..and Sons-in-law.