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I miss him, he passed away 15 years ago. The "age related dementia" discussion in another thread got me thinking about him.
He was a farmer during the Great Depression, so of course he was as stubborn as a Mule (and acted like one to
). Depression Era farmers had a different set of "sensibilities", they will never throw something away, fix-it if its broken, and refuse to quit. For 60+ years he farmed, my father was also a farmer and did most of the work in the later years. Many times, he would go out to the old trailer to sleep on the couch. I think he was more comfortable in the country then in town (even a small town of 4000 is big compared to the country) Sadly, we were forced to take away the tractor keys after he ran over a 14 ft tall windmill in the middle of an empty field )but not the car keys 
).
Speaking of cars, he helped teach me to drive. 70 mile/hour on a dirt road is normal (for him). It took me 10 years (and several ticket) to unlearn those driving lessons
.
That leads me to his motorized scooter. He nearly ran over residents with it, at the nursing home. Fortunately, his scooters "battery" started to "wear out" so it could no longer go as fast (gee, I wonder how that happened 
). Good timing too, because the facility had told us that he would not be allowed to use it anymore unless he slowed down.
Grandfather also did not believe in "trusts" for his Will. Instead of putting in "x amount of farm income should go to *grandchildren* for college" he gave me and my brother 40 acres of land. At first that sounds great, but then you realize the horrifying truth. You are "rich" by the legal definition, but you can not spend the money (because then you would not have anything to farm, and my father was still farming as our main income), so in reality I am in the same financial position as before. BUT, because I am "rich" now, I can not get as many grants and federal aid for college.
I made college happen still, as did my brother, but it was a good deal more tricky (GI Bill, if you were in the armed services USE IT.). Every time I remember my Grandfathers "Last Will and Testament" I say this prayer.
"Thank You dear Lord, Thank you that my father learned from these experiences with my grandfather and retired at age 75. Thank you that he also set up 2 trusts, that he can not access, to ensure that he and mother are well cared for and that he decided to me his trustee and executor of the estate. Amen"
Forgot to mention before, he sold some land and did not tell father until after the sale. This caused him to lose some his medicare benefits (because he was "rich" now), and caused us to have a lean couple of years because that meant less land to farm to make money. This was mostly the dementia, in his younger years (his 60s) he would have thought every thing trough and not made this mistake. However, not telling father, well that is just how he always had done things and did not discuss business decisions that much.
Of course there is this story mostly about my father. But at the end of it, my mother told me how "You sound just like your Father when your Grandfather set the creek (bank) on fire".
He also loved to sing. In his youth, he was part of a Barber Shop Quartet. He loved the song Amazing Grace. I still think of him every time I sing it, and it is still my favorite song. (side note: you can sing the first verse to just about any tune, Gilligan Island to the "M.A.S.H." theme song. I think his sense of humor rubbed off on me.)
He also like to sleep on the floor. I am not sure why, but I think he just liked the harder surfaces more. This of course lead to problems at the nursing home, they can not tell if someone fell down or laid down on the floor to take a nap, so they assume they fell down. Has anyone ever had to asked, "Why were you sleeping on the floor in the Dinning Room?" I know a few nurses who have.
He was a very kind but Ornery Old man, and I still miss him. I will probably end up just like him.
He was a farmer during the Great Depression, so of course he was as stubborn as a Mule (and acted like one to
). Depression Era farmers had a different set of "sensibilities", they will never throw something away, fix-it if its broken, and refuse to quit. For 60+ years he farmed, my father was also a farmer and did most of the work in the later years. Many times, he would go out to the old trailer to sleep on the couch. I think he was more comfortable in the country then in town (even a small town of 4000 is big compared to the country) Sadly, we were forced to take away the tractor keys after he ran over a 14 ft tall windmill in the middle of an empty field )but not the car keys ). Speaking of cars, he helped teach me to drive. 70 mile/hour on a dirt road is normal (for him). It took me 10 years (and several ticket) to unlearn those driving lessons
. That leads me to his motorized scooter. He nearly ran over residents with it, at the nursing home. Fortunately, his scooters "battery" started to "wear out"
so it could no longer go as fast (gee, I wonder how that happened ). Good timing too, because the facility had told us that he would not be allowed to use it anymore unless he slowed down. Grandfather also did not believe in "trusts" for his Will. Instead of putting in "x amount of farm income should go to *grandchildren* for college" he gave me and my brother 40 acres of land. At first that sounds great, but then you realize the horrifying truth. You are "rich" by the legal definition, but you can not spend the money (because then you would not have anything to farm, and my father was still farming as our main income), so in reality I am in the same financial position as before. BUT, because I am "rich" now, I can not get as many grants and federal aid for college.
I made college happen still, as did my brother, but it was a good deal more tricky (GI Bill, if you were in the armed services USE IT.). Every time I remember my Grandfathers "Last Will and Testament" I say this prayer."Thank You dear Lord, Thank you that my father learned from these experiences with my grandfather and retired at age 75. Thank you that he also set up 2 trusts, that he can not access, to ensure that he and mother are well cared for and that he decided to me his trustee and executor of the estate. Amen"
Forgot to mention before, he sold some land and did not tell father until after the sale. This caused him to lose some his medicare benefits (because he was "rich" now), and caused us to have a lean couple of years because that meant less land to farm to make money. This was mostly the dementia, in his younger years (his 60s) he would have thought every thing trough and not made this mistake. However, not telling father, well that is just how he always had done things and did not discuss business decisions that much.
Of course there is this story mostly about my father. But at the end of it, my mother told me how "You sound just like your Father when your Grandfather set the creek (bank) on fire".
He also loved to sing. In his youth, he was part of a Barber Shop Quartet. He loved the song Amazing Grace. I still think of him every time I sing it, and it is still my favorite song. (side note: you can sing the first verse to just about any tune, Gilligan Island to the "M.A.S.H." theme song.
I think his sense of humor rubbed off on me.)He also like to sleep on the floor
. I am not sure why, but I think he just liked the harder surfaces more. This of course lead to problems at the nursing home, they can not tell if someone fell down or laid down on the floor to take a nap, so they assume they fell down. Has anyone ever had to asked, "Why were you sleeping on the floor in the Dinning Room?" I know a few nurses who have. He was a very kind but Ornery Old man, and I still miss him. I will probably end up just like him.
