Grandpa Jim was our favorite grandparent. Whenever he came to visit, he brought along with him smiles, laughter and a lot of love.  Grandpa was a smart man and a very handsome man at that. He had dark hair until the day he died. He lived in a log cabin far up north in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. It took about four hours to get there by car. He lived by a lake all to himself, with a rowboat and lots of wild animals around, which became his pets. There was a black bear, once, who crawled up the tree in the yard near the cabin. It was fun to watch him. There were also snakes under the piled wood in the back and a flying squirrel that hid under the roof just above the drainage area.

It was always fun to go visit Grandpa. We'd pump the water into the sink, excited to be the first to work that ol' red well pump. And we couldn't wait to get out on the dock by the boat and do some fishing and, maybe, some swimming.

On the way to Grandpa's house, we knew when we were getting close. There were lines and bunches of white birch trees along the road, more and more, the nearer we drove.

Grandpa whistled and hummed as he played with us, worked or fished. He always had something funny to say to make us laugh. He always teased Mom about her 'hot' coffee, after which Mom would exclaim, "Well, it's supposed to be hot." And they both would chuckle.

After dinner, Mom brought some dessert to which Grandpa would remark, "Oh, I don't want any. Your homemade bread is dessert to me. " That made Mom smile.

Grandpa played checkers and card games with us. Usually it was "Hearts". And he sometimes was so bad at losing (or made us kids think so) that Mom would say, 'You're just as bad as the kids." And he grinned and chuckled.

Whenever Grandpa was to come visit, everyone got excited and could hardly wait to see him come down the road, including Dad. Many times, he would show up earlier than expected. I remember the first time I realized that Mom knew that could happen. She'd be waiting for him a day earlier and we kept reminding her but he said tomorrow. She'd say, "No, I think it'll be today." And sure enough, it was!

We even learned how to shoot. One day Grandpa took us behind the barn where it was safe and showed us how to hold, aim and shoot a 22 gun. How fun! I will never forget it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to shoot, especially from my Grandfather. It turns out that I am good at it. When target shooting in Albuquerque out on the mesa (when I was married), I usually did the best. My husband was always frustrated at that – (a bit competitive, I'd say).

While visiting, Grandpa always bought us some bananas. It was a rare treat since we could not afford such luxuries. And before he left to go back home, he would always drop a handful of coins in the middle of the dining-room table. It was for us kids to split among us.

We missed Grandpa terribly when he was gone, no matter what age each of us were. I was married with a child of my own by that time and living too far away without enough funds to go when Mom and Dad went for his last days.

Mom found his Bible with several markings in it. She never knew he had been reading the Bible, much less have a few favorite versus of his own. She was pleased.

I still miss him, as I miss my mother.

Written in 2011