A Few Memories
My grandfather passed away earlier this week and I think I better write down a few things about him before I forget. Because my kids are so tiny they wont remember him, and while we may not have been close I do have some good memories of him I would like them to have.
-For some reason the adults in the family let a child nickname him- since I'm the oldest I got that privilege and the name he was stuck with was "Paka". I mean it was a sweet idea, but really... now that I have my own kids I dont think this was the best plan... their judgement is well bad.
-He loved Dr. Pepper, and by love I mean really loved Dr. Pepper. Walking into their house I remember smelling her perfume and his ever present Dr. Pepper. The smell of Dr. Pepper always reminds me of him.
-He made the best brisket. Because I grew up in CA and not TX brisket wasnt something we ever ate except when we would come and visit him. It was an all day affair with a secret combination of spices in the rub (I'm sure it wasn't secret but I was 16). He would carefully tend the brisket all day and it was delicious.
-He loved the DART. DART is the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, he loved the trains, I'm sure there were days when he didn't love his job but I didn't hear about them. When we would visit he would take us to the depot to see them work on the trains, and he would always try and convince us to ride them somewhere. When Brian and I first moved to DFW and were working downtown we would ride the train to work and he was thrilled. DART required he wear a uniform of grey pants and a white collared shirt, he religiously took these items to the cleaners. When we lived with them briefly in 2008 I would occasionally go with either him or Nana to drop or pick up the dry cleaning. One time he mentioned that DART would clean their uniforms for them, but he preferred to take them himself to the cleaners because they did a better job.
-He really really loved Nana. While he wasn't the most talkative to the rest of us you could tell that he thought she hung the moon. At the time we stayed with them he was in the bishopric in his ward and had a weekly meeting on Tuesday nights. Almost without fail each week he would stop by Braums on his way home and get her a sundae. I don't remember her asking him to do it, but there it was every week. Rarely would he get anything for himself, but like clockwork he would show up on Tuesday evenings with her sundae from Braums.
-He didnt like to sit still. He would spend significant time on his computer but just sitting and watching TV isn't something I ever remember him doing. He was busy. On Saturdays he would spend what seemed like the entire day running errands, to the point that after a day with him I was exhausted! He always had to be doing something, fixing something, getting something, doing something. He once told me I was "industrious", given his personality I think the was high praise. When he would come to visit my parents he was always fixing something- the dryer, the oven, always something.
-I think he still really loved Oak Cliff, the area of Dallas where he was raised and lived with Nana early on in their marriage. By the time I came along Oak Cliff wasnt a great place, but it seemed like he always found a reason to go back. He loved to stop for food there- at wingfields (burgers), Church's Chicken, and a little place that sold tamales. I am sure there were places closer to home where he could have stopped but he always went back to the old neighborhood.
-On Sunday evenings he would make cheese toast. This was basically sliced cheddar cheese on bread, he had a very specific system for doing this and a very specific ratio of cheese to bread. I can't eat cheese toast without thinking of that or without thinking of him telling me just how long to cook it because Nana like's her cheese toast just so.
-He did not like chocolate, funny since I dont think there is a chocolate item that Nana dislikes. He preferred fruit treats (which really they are way better), but I remember my aunt making him fruit cobblers and shortcakes for special occasions when chocolate was served.
-For some reason the adults in the family let a child nickname him- since I'm the oldest I got that privilege and the name he was stuck with was "Paka". I mean it was a sweet idea, but really... now that I have my own kids I dont think this was the best plan... their judgement is well bad.
-He loved Dr. Pepper, and by love I mean really loved Dr. Pepper. Walking into their house I remember smelling her perfume and his ever present Dr. Pepper. The smell of Dr. Pepper always reminds me of him.
-He made the best brisket. Because I grew up in CA and not TX brisket wasnt something we ever ate except when we would come and visit him. It was an all day affair with a secret combination of spices in the rub (I'm sure it wasn't secret but I was 16). He would carefully tend the brisket all day and it was delicious.
-He loved the DART. DART is the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, he loved the trains, I'm sure there were days when he didn't love his job but I didn't hear about them. When we would visit he would take us to the depot to see them work on the trains, and he would always try and convince us to ride them somewhere. When Brian and I first moved to DFW and were working downtown we would ride the train to work and he was thrilled. DART required he wear a uniform of grey pants and a white collared shirt, he religiously took these items to the cleaners. When we lived with them briefly in 2008 I would occasionally go with either him or Nana to drop or pick up the dry cleaning. One time he mentioned that DART would clean their uniforms for them, but he preferred to take them himself to the cleaners because they did a better job.
-He really really loved Nana. While he wasn't the most talkative to the rest of us you could tell that he thought she hung the moon. At the time we stayed with them he was in the bishopric in his ward and had a weekly meeting on Tuesday nights. Almost without fail each week he would stop by Braums on his way home and get her a sundae. I don't remember her asking him to do it, but there it was every week. Rarely would he get anything for himself, but like clockwork he would show up on Tuesday evenings with her sundae from Braums.
-He didnt like to sit still. He would spend significant time on his computer but just sitting and watching TV isn't something I ever remember him doing. He was busy. On Saturdays he would spend what seemed like the entire day running errands, to the point that after a day with him I was exhausted! He always had to be doing something, fixing something, getting something, doing something. He once told me I was "industrious", given his personality I think the was high praise. When he would come to visit my parents he was always fixing something- the dryer, the oven, always something.
-I think he still really loved Oak Cliff, the area of Dallas where he was raised and lived with Nana early on in their marriage. By the time I came along Oak Cliff wasnt a great place, but it seemed like he always found a reason to go back. He loved to stop for food there- at wingfields (burgers), Church's Chicken, and a little place that sold tamales. I am sure there were places closer to home where he could have stopped but he always went back to the old neighborhood.
-On Sunday evenings he would make cheese toast. This was basically sliced cheddar cheese on bread, he had a very specific system for doing this and a very specific ratio of cheese to bread. I can't eat cheese toast without thinking of that or without thinking of him telling me just how long to cook it because Nana like's her cheese toast just so.
-He did not like chocolate, funny since I dont think there is a chocolate item that Nana dislikes. He preferred fruit treats (which really they are way better), but I remember my aunt making him fruit cobblers and shortcakes for special occasions when chocolate was served.
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