The Mitches: cowboy baba

i can't really speak to what my grandpa was like before 1981.... i wasn't around then. and i've heard that i'm not the best person to ask about that first year either. my grandma used to tell me that i would cry hysterically any time i even sensed my grandfather's presence in a room. but once we got past our differences (it was me... not him), he quickly became one of the most important people in my life.

my sister and i used to go out to my grandparents' house in lakeside on a regular basis. i would wake up early in the morning and creep out to the living room where my grandpa was reading the paper in front of their wood burning stove and the morning news (channel 8, i believe). i would crawl into his lap, snuggle against his strong chest, listen to his rhythmic breathing and absorb the latest breaking news from carol lebeau. my grandma would get up to make us warm waffles and fresh squeezed orange juice. we would pour Cairo syrup into all the little waffle square compartments and my grandpa would offer me a cup of coffee. i declined every time but he would try to convince me to drink it anyway...

"it'll put hair on your chest!"

after my mom passed away, my grandparents were there a lot to pick us up from school or watch us when my dad went out of town. i'll never forget the day before my 16th birthday. grandma asked me to back the car out of their carport. grandpa moved his truck first and i backed the oldsmobile out... right through the side of the mobile home. i dragged the kitchen stairs (along with the back of the newly painted car) straight into where the dining room was. grandpa came running up the street thinking a bomb had gone off. grandma opened the kitchen door (thank God she didn't try to step out!) thinking the big california earthquake had finally struck. my sister ran around the side of the house...

"sam! what did you do?!?!"

but grandpa just shrugged the accident off. said it must run in the family (my mom ran a car through the living room when she was 16). he pulled out a hammer and pounded the house back into shape like it was no big deal.

even after my grandma passed away in 2004, grandpa still managed to make the time to support me and my sister. he was there at my wedding. he sat with me for hours at the hospital while we waited for jack to be born (still not sure how grandpa got to the hospital). he was there at my sister's wedding. he came to the hospital when ellie was born. he always made it to all the important events.

though he's gone now, we know he's happy in heaven reunited with those we've lost already. we will miss you cowboy baba.