My PaPa would have turned 82 today. He was one of the greatest men that I will ever meet. I practically lived my whole childhood with him. Maybe I'll go into why in a future blog...This is the only pic of him I had at my house, the rest of the albums are elsewhere. He is holding my mother. He really was a happy person...he was just doing the serious 1950's fatherly pose, I guess...

Some of my fondest memories of him include his laugh. He had a great sense of humor. As time passes it does get harder to remember that comforting sound. He enjoyed doing crossword puzzles. He would let me look at the new TV Guide puzzle first so I could fill in what I knew...he then would practically complete it. He fostered my curiosity, like when I asked how peanuts grew, he said "Let's plant some"...and we did...I loved his big black and red 1977 Ford Explorer cab and a half pickup...He would take me "up on the hill" where the donut shop was. I would get donut holes and a Pepsi...he would drink his coffee and visit. I could listen to his childhood stories over and over...We would watch Cubs and Bulls games together...For our birthdays we would get to eat at a restaurant of our choice, but PaPa would also take us to Catfish Cabin (this was more for him than us...but he did love to eat there).

He would say things like, "Go tell them how the cat eats the cabbage", "I'm going to cut that dog's tail off right behind the ears" he never would though...he loved dogs...just wouldn't admit it...I would go along with him to play bingo at the American Legion...He loved to cook and would dehydrate almost anything...He would help me get off to school and when I was in kindergarten and first grade he would let me "read" the comics as he tied my shoes...he would then brush my hair...and there are so many more but the best is that there was never any doubt that he loved his family...