Visited

dad's and Janet's mom (My grandmother, Nicholas Great grandma) Janet's Dad's and my grandparents (Dads side) and uncle Bobby graves when I visited with Janet last week. 

I know where they are now. 

I can find them. 

Visited my grandparents graves on my moms side when I went went to Oboro with mom a few weeks ago. Glad I did. 

Nice to have the pictures to reference the dates as well.

Albert and Artie, Dad's mom and dad. 

Papa would take me and my cousins, Timmy and Scottie to the KY state fair every year. 

He would just buy us a big wad of tickets and turn us loose and let us ride whatever we wanted :-). 

Good times. 

Remember wrestling around in the back of my aunts car to The Doobie Brothers "Black water" (when it was actually on the charts lol, not some oldies station) on AM radio (No FM just yet) on the way to his house one time lol. 

No seat belts. 

I'm not old, I'm vintage somebody once said.

Uncle Bobby. 

He and my aunt Barbara had just moved to Mt. Washington.

L&N (Louisville and Nashville railroad) was relocating and cutting jobs.

He was let go.

Not very much later he had a heart attack mowing the yard and passed away.

Two small boys :-(.

So sad.

They ended up in Lexington and after my aunt retired she moved there to be closer to them.

Everybody agreed it was the loosing the job and not the heart attack that did it.

No history of heart disease in the family before or after him.

It was the fall of my freshman year at WKU.

Just hit me like a ton of bricks.

So young, so unexpected, just a shock.

Bobby was really funny :-).

He could really make you laugh.

It's just not a phone call you expect your first or second week away at school for the first time.

After dad told me what had happened I don't think I heard anything else he said.

Just sat there in silence.

I was a pallbearer at his funeral.

Life is precious indeed.

Dad.

So much like him it's ridiculous.

Nicholas as well.

I think he would be proud :-).

Passed away when Nicholas was 14 months old.

He was a mailman.

He and Janet lived on his route.

Same house where Janet still lives.

Sometimes if I wanted to see him?

I knew about where he would be on his route on any given part of the day so I would just go find him and walk with him for a bit.

Loved watchin NFL with him.

We agreed on a lot.

Forth down?

Close to the 50 yard line on your or your opponent's side?

Go for it.

Field goal?

Fuck a bunch of field goals.

Only if you are to far away from the goal line to try and score.

I played JV football.

Games were on Thursday afternoons.

He would always ask: "Where do you play this week?"

I'd tell him and he would say: "Well if I can make it I'll be there but I can't promise."

Every time.

Every time.

He was always there.

Every time.

I would be coming off the field after kickoff coverage or our first offensive possession and I would kinda be looking for him in his mailman uniform along the fence somewhere...and every time there would eventually be his voice: "Hey bud."

I would just light up :-).

He was a very "You gotta do what you gotta do" kinda guy.

He didn't ever wanna tell anybody how they should live their lives.

He expected the favor to be returned.

Sound familiar?

"The moral majority is neither" was one of his favs :-).

He went to the hospital with jaundice.

A week later he left us.

A week :-(.

Just like that.

Pancreatic cancer.

I wish I could have had more time with him.

Janet's parents.

Sam was a very quiet man never really said much.

I ended up with his single bolt action 22 and his double barrel shotgun from Janet.

I'm honored to have them.

Once Janet and her mom had bought some pots for some plants.

One of them was made out of terra cotta.

It had a tag explaining how and why it was so good for growing plants inside of it.

I mean it was a long explanation just going on and on.

Janet or Ma one was reading it.

We were all just sitting on the porch.

When she got done, Pa Gehring, with the straightest face you could ever imagine said: 

"They make sewer pipe out of it too."

We all just about died lol.

He just sat there like "Whats so funny?"

Alma :-).

Old school German woman big time.

As in "Spreckens sie deutsch?"

When I was young she would get the order of verbs and nouns mixed up on occasion.

I would be like "I know what you're saying but I never heard anybody ever say it like that before."

Woman could flat out cook now.

I had a beer can collection when I was in middle school? 

High school?

It was a big fad.

Anyway I wanted a Fosters beer can (oil can).

Couldn't ever find one but they sold it in the stores.

This is like late 70's early 80's nobody ever even heard of Fosters then.

Nobody in our families drank beer.

Amazed they even let me have a beer can collection.

Ma said she would drink it if dad would buy it.

So she did.

I was like ain't that something?

The oldest woman in this family is the one to drink that big can of beer?

Must have been the German coming out I suppose.

"It was good too" she said lol.

Sunday dinners.

Good lord did I have some manners to learn when we started eating at Ma and Pa's house on Sundays.

There was a serving cart with all the food on it.

It was up front close to the table where Pa sat (at the head).

Blessing was said.

Ma would stand and give all the dishes to Pa first.

Everything was passed in a clockwise manner till everybody had what they wanted.

If you weren't sure?

Take just a taste to see if you like or not.

Bread goes on the bread plate.

Butter?

Take what you think you will need and put it on the side of the bread plate so you won't have to ask someone to pass it to you later.

(Helps keep the bread out of the butter as well)

No one started eating till Pa started. 

It's was out of respect.

His house.

His food that he bought to share with everyone.

Dishes were passed again for seconds.

Ma standing and doing the passing again.

Ask, before you just take the last of any item.

Somebody else may want some.

If so?

Then you split whats left.

No body is done till Pa is done.

When he is done?

Plates cleared.

Desert and coffee brought out.

Desert servings were passed to everyone.

Again, no one starts till Pa starts.

I mean here I am 15?16? years old with all this goodness in front of me and I gotta wait?

Oh you would have thought it was gonna kill me lol.

When everyone is finished and the plates are cleared?

You're expected to stay for a while and engage in conversation.

If you're ready to leave after a bit?

"May I be excused."

That's just how it was.

I lived with Ma for a while after I graduated from Western.

Strong, strong old school german woman.

"Great grandma" Nicholas called her.

Miss her too.

(My lil shrine to ma)

Old school.

Period.

Know why Bambi?

Cause that shit still works.

Love you Virgie.