The SITS Girls do an amazing job on their site of building community and unity between women and this week is no exception. On top of everything else The SITS Girls have invited two very special SITStas on this week's Back To Blogging - Read about Thelma & Louise here and check out the following links Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances, so that you too can win Thelma and Louise! Check out their blog frog community for more cool stuff!
I love to tell my Sunday Family Stories - I think they are my favorite part of my blog because I share my reminisces about my childhood and my family history. I started publishing these fairly early on in my blog life and when I had to think of a post that I wanted more readers to see, I immediately clicked around my Sunday list... and realized that I often talk about my Nana (grandmother) and reference the many posts I've written about her, but I rarely go back to this one about a special man in my life, my Pompa or Grandfather...
So here is a post that I originally wrote on January 23rd of this year,
entitled 10 Things I Learned from my Pompa
As the first grandchild born into my family, which now has sprouted to 13 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren for my grandparents I claim to be the one who has known my grandfather the longest... and the girl who christened him 'Pompa'
I'm guessing that when I was too little to remember, that I couldn't decide whether to call him grandpa or papa, so I combined them... but one never knows what is in the mind of a precocious toddler... it morphed somewhere to plain old grandpa but he's always been my Pompa...
So what did I learn from him?
Lots... but I will pick ten of my favourites to share with you today...
- If you want something bad enough, you will work for it... my grandfather started working at 8 years of age, quit school before he finished 8th grade and worked full time for the rest of his life until he semi-retired at age 75 and finally retired just a few years ago... As my grandmother wrote in her memoirs, "He never owned a bicycle and by the time he could afford one, he wanted a car. Education was important to him and he made sure that the children got the best possible one so that they could enjoy a better life than he had."
- Which brings me to my second point- get an education and stay in school... he matched dollar for dollar every scholarship we earned from other sources, allowing me to go to university without debts, and to earn my bachelors degree.
- More personally, he taught me to take time to spend with family - if you've read previous posts, you will have read about 'Iwannastay', the cottage that he and my grandmother purchased so that their kids would have a place away from the city... Despite the fact that he regularly worked 60-80 hour weeks sometimes, he made the time to get away and be with family at the cottage - taking us for boat rides, teaching us to water-ski and fish, or just hanging out on the deck.
- "Stay out of the way of hot spoons" ... if you sat next to Pompa at the cottage kitchen table for breakfast, you were likely to be treated to the 'hot spoon' treatment if you weren't paying enough attention to him... he would stir his coffee and then 'attack', with love...
- You're never to old to have a birthday party! My grandfather was 60 before he had a real 'birthday party' with all his friends and family. I was especially proud to be the lone grandchild, at about 11 years old, to be invited to come to the adult party... and give a speech to him (one of my first writing/speaking engagements)
- Naps are good - Siestas are fine in Pompa's book, especially during golf, baseball or other sporting events... but lead into the next two things I learned...
- Never wake a sleeping Pompa - especially to ask about going for a boat ride to the "lodge"... it inevitably makes your time before embarking on the special trip much longer...
- Never change the channel... it might wake the sleeping Pompa and he was 'watching through his eyelids'
- Keep everything in good repair... even when he was 'off work' at home or at the cottage, if something needed fixing, he didn't procrastinate or make it worse...
- Take the time to make fabulous memories - and cherish every one... this one is the hardest for me to write about and probably the most serious... as my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease several years ago, but as I write down my memories my grandmother is sharing them with him and its helping me to remember the special times, places and memories we share...
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| With me and my Grandma at my wedding, 1998 |
The other question that gets asked today as part of the challenge is the ever present - why is this post important?
My grandfather is a dynamic man - despite dealing with Alzheimer's and physical issues, he's still one of the most incredible people I know and his illness is actually a stronger impetus to make sure that the stories and connections are passed on to future generations... as far as unsung heroes goes, I nominate my grandfather - a man who came from little, asked for nothing and built everything for his family.
I hope you enjoyed meeting my Pompa today. I am also pleased that this post was reprinted in the newsletter of the retirement home where he and my grandmother now live, so that I have been able to share my vision of my grandfather with his peers and their families.
I am also adding a linky here for any SITStas who are participating this week - the linky will appear in all my Back to Blogging posts and you can link up by linking each of your Back to Blogging posts ~ Blog title - topic (ie first post, please comment, favorite title etc) - I am also making it a blog hop linky so feel free to add it to your blog if you want!
