My Opa passed away and had his funeral on Tuesday, November 25th. I've always told John and my friends that I want my marriage to be as successful and happy as my opa and oma's. My Opa cherished, respected and loved his wife more than anything in this world. And she loved him just the same.
Here are 10 things I remember about my Opa:
1. He loves his wife and family. Family comes first!
2. Chasing the grandkids in his backyard with poison ivy.
3. Making teeth out of orange peels (see photo below).
4. Rubberband fights.
5. Lead Foot –I always knew he loved to drive fast. But my uncle Tom told a great story at the funeral. When my uncle Tom was younger he was driving with my opa. They were going 20 over the speed limit and a cop tagged them. As soon as his lights turned on my opa told him to SPEED IT UP! So my uncle obeyed his father and they ended up getting ahead and watching the cop speed by from a darkened warehouse. Ha. Ha.
6. Playing croquet in the back yard.
7. Card and dice games (race car). Opa always picked the fastest car.
8. SauerKraut, Bratwurst, potato salad and red cabbage.
9. Chocolates & cookies imported from Germany.
10. Christmas Eve –Every Christmas Eve we'd go to my opa's house and he would read the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible. He'd read it with a funny accent that always made me laugh. The story was lONG and seemed to last for eternity. Sometime we'd have to stop him because he’d just keep reading through the chapter onto the next.
1. He loves his wife and family. Family comes first!
2. Chasing the grandkids in his backyard with poison ivy.
3. Making teeth out of orange peels (see photo below).
4. Rubberband fights.
5. Lead Foot –I always knew he loved to drive fast. But my uncle Tom told a great story at the funeral. When my uncle Tom was younger he was driving with my opa. They were going 20 over the speed limit and a cop tagged them. As soon as his lights turned on my opa told him to SPEED IT UP! So my uncle obeyed his father and they ended up getting ahead and watching the cop speed by from a darkened warehouse. Ha. Ha.
6. Playing croquet in the back yard.
7. Card and dice games (race car). Opa always picked the fastest car.
8. SauerKraut, Bratwurst, potato salad and red cabbage.
9. Chocolates & cookies imported from Germany.
10. Christmas Eve –Every Christmas Eve we'd go to my opa's house and he would read the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible. He'd read it with a funny accent that always made me laugh. The story was lONG and seemed to last for eternity. Sometime we'd have to stop him because he’d just keep reading through the chapter onto the next.
One last thing. My opa & oma are NOT worldly. Their tv to this day is old, black & white and used only to watch the news. They have never owned a dvd player, cd player, cell phone or computer. They have never even used the internet. My opa spent his time with his family, working in the yard and garden, and spending quality time with his wife taking walks, dancing together, listening to german music on their record player and reading scriptures.
These past few years my Opa suffered from dimentia and alzheimer's. As his memory would fade, he would forget what he ate that day, the names of his grandkids, what day it was, but he always remembered Trudy, my oma. Every time we visited him he would tell us the story of how they met and fell in love.
These past few years my Opa suffered from dimentia and alzheimer's. As his memory would fade, he would forget what he ate that day, the names of his grandkids, what day it was, but he always remembered Trudy, my oma. Every time we visited him he would tell us the story of how they met and fell in love.
Love you Opa!
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