santa-grandpa

for some reason i have been thinking about my grandpa andy lorence. he died when i was only about 10. maybe i have been thinking about him because i am embarking on a huge life change: becoming a mother in 5 more months. i have been super reflective about life in general. nostalgic.

grandpa andy was not the world's greatest dad to my dad and his two brothers. he was an alcoholic. from what i gather, he had a temper. but with time, he mellowed out. jared and i probably remember him the most since we were the older grandchildren. we experienced the good years of grandpa andy. the benevolent santa-figure grandpa. [i think it is sad when children grow up with harsh and angry parents, and by the time they are adults and have their own children, their kids are the only ones to enjoy the chilled-out version of their parents, the grandparents. but it happens].

with grandpa andy, you didn't have to report on how you were doing in school or if you were doing sports or other things. you could just be with this grandpa. no performance required. he liked to give gifts and spend time with us. there was always a fun outing lined up: a twins game or como zoo or a pontoon ride on the st. croix. i remember going to a twins game with jared, karen (grandpa's wife--he remarried after his first wife, norine died--i never knew my grandma because she died before any of us were born), and grandpa.  i had a stomachache, so grandpa suggested i eat some ice cream. it worked. at these outings, he always wanted to buy us something. i picked out a kirby puckett teddy bear. on the way home, we stopped at a card collector shop, and jared picked out albums to put his baseball cards in. for my birthday one year, i remember him asking me what i wanted. for some odd reason, i wanted a typewriter. i got one. i thundered away at that thing typing up stories and whatever else came to mind. i also remember playing at his cabin and being stung by some bees on the property. i was pretty young and started crying from the welts. uncle matt carried me inside and grandpa andy got me situated on the couch and turned the tv on. then he proceeded to go outside to take care of the bee problem. he said something to the effect of "sarah, i'm going to get those bees for you."

i remember when jared and i were little and we had an overnight stay with grandpa and grandma. they let us pick out a movie. we chose ET. (recently, i have really been wanting to watch that)!

another good memory is watching the minnesota twins world series victory parade from dad's office building. grandpa showed up with huge iced sesame street character cookies for us kids.

one evening, when we kids were recovering from stomach flu or chicken pox, he came over with a bunch of movies for us. one of them was the wizard of oz.

grandpa had a seizure one night and the doctors discovered a brain tumor. he had surgery, but was never the same afterward. i remember dad would take us kids over to his house so that grandma karen could go out and get a break from taking care of grandpa. dad would take us and grandpa on outings, or sometimes we would go to jared's basketball games on a saturday. i think dad was coaching that particular year, so during the game, i would kind of keep on eye on grandpa who would wander the halls of the school. i don't think he even knew i was shadowing him, my charge.

i know he didn't have a relationship with God. he was  irreverent about those kinds of things. i like to think that he made peace with his Maker before he took his last breath. i hold out hope for these sorts of things. i am thankful God gave me a santa-grandpa. i will always cherish those memories-dear memories that a gracious, loving heavenly Father gave to me.

and now my dad is going to be a grandpa very soon. and i know he will be a santa-grandpa: jolly, kind, and benevolent because isn't that the very best grandpa one can be?