90 things...

As you can tell, my grandfather is on my mind a lot this week.... Back when he turned 90 (in 1994 if I'm doing my math correctly, which is always questionable) my dad, uncle, and aunt had a big party for him. I solicited things from my aunts, uncles, and cousins... things we love about Grandpa. 90 of them. Then I laid out nice and pretty, printed them up nice, and matted and framed them. I'm not sure where that print is now... I think it's hanging at the house at the shore. Anyway, I dug up the file to share here. Apparently I didn't save the final version because there are some "xxxx" lines in here. That's very unlike me. If I stumble across the final file at some point, I'll fill in the blanks.

90 Things We Love About You

You
...are caring
...are an Eagle Scout
...can almost set a clock by your afternoon martini
...took us for walks on the hill-to-hill bridge
...passed your love of swimming onto your kids & grandkids
...are generous with your time
...love blueberry pie
...played trumpet in the Leheigh University band
...know how to waterski
...never miss remembering a birthday
...have read enough books to fill a library
...took us to watch the steam trains in Bethlehem on weekends
...always brought us cool t-shirts from your cruises
...make a mean split-pea soup
...taught me how to mow the lawn with an old-fashioned mower

You
...married Irene Fabozzi and started our family
...took us to church with you
...started going to Avalon in the 1940s
...are conservative
...gave us all a warm, happy place to celebrate Thanksgiving
...had a Model T for your first car
...xxx
...ate Grandma’s green bean casserole, even though you didn’t like it
...have always shown a loving interest & concern for your grandkids
...xxx
...always humored a certain little girl who insisted on sitting next to you at mealtime
...xxx
...cruised through the Panama Canal... twice!
...xxx
...took care of Am when she needed help

Your
...love of opera & classical music (& romantic & baroque &...)
...ongoing battle against crabgrass & weeds
...tolerance of your grandkids, great-grandkids, & “great-grandpets”
...love of books & reading
...decision to buy a house in Avalon
...ability to stay calm with chaos all around you
...plentiful garden
...hard working nature
...patience
...phrase, “I see ‘the Bums’ won/lost”
...generosity
...knack for telling a great story
...beach tag paperweights
...sense of humor
...“magic teeth”
...love of history
...xxx
...ability to eat blueberry pie for three meals a day
...interest in fixing things around the house(s)
...love of crossword puzzles
...morals
...fabulous memory
...sense of fairness
...love of hot peppers
...appreciation of learning
...attendance at countless plays, musicals, concerts, & sports events
...devotion to scouting ideals
...xxx
...acceptance of all of our animals
...intelligence

You
...still ride your bike into town for the paper
...sat for hours at the kitchen table picking crabs with Grandma
...once pulled the boat back to the house after turning it over while skiing
...have always welcomed us into your home(s)
...showed us Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving
...shared with me your love of the sea
...taught me to be handy
...lived in Kentucky as a child
...were the first generation of Leheigh men in our family
...used to keep a boat in Norristown during the summer to go skiing on the Schuykill River
...showed me how to be inventive
...took us for walks in all kinds of weather
...never laughed at the kid who got sick everytime he went on the boat
...hang your clothes out on the line to dry
...have affectionate nicknames for people

You
...taught me to be self-sufficient
...once punched a hammerhead shark in the head
...taught me to be frugal
...water-skiied longer than most people would
...camped with us when we were scouts
...are pious
...instilled the principles of hard work, sincerity, and kindness in our parents,
which they, in turn, passed on to us
...have an electrical engineering degree
...are more active in a day than some people are in a week
...helped us all discover the seven seas... or at least the bay and the inlet that to a child was a whole new world
...helped keep the power on during WWII
...taught us about making wine
...show us how to read and fold a map
...still make dill pickles every summer
...love us and listen to us, no matter how busy we all get

A little odd to look at this photo (from the 90th birthday party) now... one cousin's now-wife was there, but chose not to be in the photo. One cousin's then-girlfriend is no longer in the picture (no pun intended); maybe we can photoshop in his current girlfriend of several years because she rocks! One cousin's then-wife is not anymore. And my brother's wife is not in this picture, either. I guess she wasn't there, but I don't remember why.