Many would even go so far as to say I was his favorite

Grandpa was a man who loved to tinker around the house at a time when “do it yourself” was not a fad but was a necessity, and he always had wood sheds in his residence for storage space for the dozens of tools and equipment that he needed. I loved to spend the day with him when I was a little girl, because he would patiently stop what he was doing to show or explain something when I asked him what he was doing or why he was doing it that way. He was retired by then from teaching grade school, and was enjoying the time by spending it with family and working on his passion for creating beautiful pieces of furniture for the family’s use. He and Grandmother had raised ten kids, nine of whom grew up to have families of their own but still came back often to spend weekends and special occasions in the family home; our family was big and noisy, but everyone could feel the love that brought everyone together . It must not have been that easy to raise all those kids, and indeed stories told by my uncles and aunts around the dining room table whenever we get together even until now reflect a past that was endearing and inspiring, as they reveal how they struggled and survived. My older cousins tell me that their experience with Grandpa was quite different with mine, because they say he used to be very strict and would often punish or scold them for any wrongdoing, which I never seem to remember him doing to me. Many would even go so far as to say I was his favorite, to which I would never know what to reply; all I know is that with the time that I got to spend with him before he passed away, I got to know a really special man.