Things my Grandfather Taught Me

Grandad has been watching us from above for nearly a decade now.

I wish I got to know him better, but his health didn't allow any of that.

So memories I have of him are vague and old, and probably only from early childhood.

I loved grandad although he was very strict. His home office smelled of old paper, and he had a huge collection of Reader's Digest from the 50's and I don't know if they went earlier than that.

He had a whole collection of the originals of Archie's comics from way back and we used to love reading them when we went to visit him and grandma. He was a collector of vintage (now they seem vintage) items and we used to love going through all his things, of course, with his permission.

Grandad was strict alright. And you couldn't find a man who valued manners more than grandad. I only remember a few, but as a young child I was a little afraid of grandad when he put on his stern face.

No elbows on the table.
Butter your bread in one direction.
Read the newspaper properly, put it back the way you found it (which is most likely perfectly placed on an appropriate table)
No talking when your mouth is full.
Hold your eating utensils correctly.
No shouting and running around (although we did lots of this)

The first time we were exposed to monopoly as kids was in the 80's, although I have a feeling grandad's monopoly set was from the 60's or 70's. I clearly remember loving the iron and the soctty dog! No one wanted to be the thimble as we thought it was just for grandmas.


All I know about grandad is that he worked for the British during the war and he always wore well-tailored suits in photographs of him from the early 1900s ( I think). He even had a cigar or two in his office drawer! He spoke perfect English so it was easy to talk to us as kids. He was a leftie and I'm glad I inherit one of his traits. He was probably a perfectionist too, judging by his home office and family portraits. He loved the glutinous rice + raisins pudding my grandma used to make, and that was my favourite too!

He had a dog that bit people, only because it was so protective of its owners and didn't like us kids running and shouting about. He also had a cat, Bambino, who scratched my eye when I tried to disturb it (serve me right!). I swear it was the evilest cat I'd ever known! However I still love cats to bits probably because it reminds me of grandad and grandma. Actually ALL my cousins are cat-crazy! Hmm now there's a thought.

I so wish I knew more about grandad and wish his early health problems didn't take him away from us so early.

So from here, I know the importance of grandparents to grandchildren- it's a beautiful blessing each child needs to experience. Nothing else can ever fill that void, that little space in our hearts filled with love and a yearning to love and be loved by a grandparent.