grandpa's

growing up i always felt gipped in the "grandfather" department. my mom's father was not very what's the word hmmmm. nice? affectionate? thoughtful? i don't know. he just wasn't a granddad like any i had ever heard from my friends. in my world grandpa's were like some magical fairy tale creature. maybe even like bigfoot, you know sighted but never confirmed to me anyway.

my crazy grandmother shielded me from him most of the time so i DID spend some time with my grandparents growing up. i wish i could say the same for my siblings. dustin had NOTHING to do with either of them and sarah wasn't allowed.

my father's father died the year before i was born. but i'm told he was fantastic. my dad worshipped his father and my mom loved him very much. that's great, but again in the "grandfather" department once again that doesn't do me much good.

but we grow up and we get over it right?

i knew with absolute certainty that MY dad was going to be a great papa and he was. emphasis on was because he died too. my dad only met my first two children, my brother's oldest two, and he never met sarah's babies. once again, "hey God, what's going on here? (BTW my oldest 3 just met their bio-grandfather on their dad's side this past summer-so dad was really all they ever had)

grandfatherless again

that was the way things were for a long time.

BUT.

mom started "dating" i use this term losely because mainly it's just gross to think of your parents "dating" anyone:) this introduced us to Papaw Dan. dan and mom's relationship, well "it's complicated," but no matter what they are, they are always there for my kids and my kids LOVE their papaw. "dan" is a character in isabel's reader this week and she purposely says his name with flair. afterall that's her papaw :)

then i married jere and that meant harry (whether you like it or not :)my husband's father is brisk and very no-nonsense. he can be so hard sometimes that it hurts. however when it comes to his grandbabies (ALL 8) he is a really great papa and i have no doubt how much he loves my babies and i know he knows how much they love him.

so i guess the best grandfathers don't have to be "related" (I hate that word!)to you to be what is the BEST for your kids. maybe even you

blessings,

cole


ps

this blog is an introduction to a recent development with my grandfather and my children that i'll share later.