Pop

Just wanted to share a few pictures of my Pop, who died a few days ago while we were in WV. Here he is with Seth in 2003 when he was about 3 months old, and another family photo taken in 2005 with Pop in the middle.

Growing up, my sister and I called him Pop with the Cherries, to differentiate between him and our other Grandfather, because he always had extra cherries and cherry juice in his Manhattans. He would share the extra cherries with us, and when he was older and not allowed to drink anymore my Dad took on that responsibility and shared his liquor-soaked cherries with my Pop. My sister and I would buy him more marachino cherries for Christmas.

Pop would always stash some extra Hubba Bubba gum in the side table of his recliner for my sister and I as a treat since Mom would never buy us the sugary brands of gum.

He always saved up all the pop cans and bottles for my sister and I to separate and count when we visited, and then we'd bag them and drive with him to the recycle center to get the deposits back for them. The money would be split between my sister and I, sometimes to spend, but mostly to save for college.

Pop loved cookies, and we'd call him the Cookie Monster. He and my Grandma would always stock their cupboard with a package of double stuff oreos and those neopolitian wafer cookies for us when we visited. He loved Christmas cookies.

During the holidays when he and Grandma were visiting us, he would go for a walk into town to buy a newspaper. Upon his return, there would always be a box of stickybuns or donuts as well. "They just fell out of the newspaper!" He would always explain. For many years, I honestly thought that those sweets really did fall out of the paper.

Pop loved to golf, hunt, fish, and play cards. He taught us how to spit off the porch of the camp at Raven Lake, and thanks to him we have the camp at Lidge Lake now too. Last week he asked my Dad if he would take him fishing, though I'm sure he knew it was too difficult to take him. Now, like my Mom said, he's off fishing somewhere in Heaven and happy.