Missing Grandma Grace's birthday in June (16?) was a bad habit in this family. After losing Grandpa, she had to downsize to an apartment and eventually to a nursing home. She lost two sons before she died. She paid more attention to us kids' birthdays and didn't expect anything in return. A salute to a woman who persevered in the circumstances she was given, and passed away at the age of 96.
Grandpa Walter, however, deserves more honorable mention. Anyone who took world history noted his birthday was Bastille Day (July 14), although the only revolution he ever subscribed to was that of Christ. He lost his mother at 12, took flak from his stepmother for marrying a divorcee with a child, lost his wife when she was 57, remained a widower for 13 years, kicked smoking cold turkey at the age of 70, and quietly passed from lung cancer at 75.
This was the only man my mom called Daddy. He was the only man my sisters and I knew as Grandpa; Dad's father died when I was 3, Grace was 2, and Deb not yet born. I am confident that he knelt before the throne of God and declared himself unworthy, and was told, "Friend, come up higher."
PS. Any news on the baby, NIkki and Dan?
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