Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my grandpa today.

Grandpa Jim lives in Alabama. And he's not a small man. I definitely didn't get my height (or lack thereof) from him. Grandpa would probably be one of the hardest members of my family to describe. But I'll give you something...

When I was little I remember freaking out at how Grandpa ate his pancakes. He put peanut butter on them. And that grossed me out to no end. I didn't see how he could do such a thing to pancakes!

Grandpa was in an accident years ago. And as a result he basically shattered his hip. So as long as I can remember he's walked with crutches or a cane. When we were kids, my brother would sneak away with Grandpa's cane at any opportunity. It automatically became a machine gun or something in Nick's hands. There was apparently one time that Grandpa was in the shower and he left his cane leaning up against the bathroom counter. Well, my brother (ever the sneaky one) went in and took it and was playing with it. Grandpa got out of the shower and realized his cane wasn't there and called out Nick's name. Because really, where else would that thing have gone at my house? Grandpa still laughs about it today.

As soon as I graduated he was asking me the same question every time we were on the phone. "Do I need to rent me a tux yet?" His own way of asking about my love life. And of course the answer was always a laugh and a resounding "no." And of course, when I called him Christmas morning two years ago to tell him Tim had proposed there was only one thing to say.

"Grandpa, it's time to get a tux."

Of course it was nearly impossible to get the words out. I was crying. I can't explain it, but even though he lived so far away my whole life, I'm extremely close to him.

But Grandpa has had health problems -related and unrelated to the accident - for some time. And he wasn't able to come out and rent his tux. That was rough. I cried. A lot. And several times. Then he sent me a letter and a gift. Actually, he sent them to mom and told her not to give them to me until the wedding day. So I read the letter that morning. I'm lucky it didn't my eyes red all day.

Anyway, all this just to let my readers know about this amazing man. My grandpa is the best. And I can't wait to see him when he comes out for Christmas.

Happy birthday Grandpa. Love you.