Grandpa's Little Girl

You could definitely say that I was "Grandpa's Little Girl." I was fortunate to have grown up with my grandparents just down the road from us. My Grandpa's shop was right next door to our house, so every afternoon, I would run over to the shop and spend the afternoon with my Grandpa and his brothers. I'd entertain them with stories and they'd take me uptown for their coffee break where I'd sit with a bunch of older men, tell more stories, and show off my abilities to count to 10 in Spanish (thanks to Sesame Street!). I have so many fond memories of those afternoons with my Grandpa. He is probably the reason that I am so chatty and love to talk and tell stories.

It's still hard for me to believe that my Grandpa is gone. It just happened so fast. He was truly larger than life. He loved my Grandma so much, and was so proud of his children, his grandchildren, and his great grandchildren. And he was definitely someone that you wanted on your Trivial Pursuit team - the man knew his history! He passed his love of reading onto to me and I loved to shop for books for his Christmas gift.

But he is gone and the time has come to sell the tractors and other machinery that he accumulated over his long and wonderful life. He spent many hours rebuilding the engines of some of these machines. He'd probably be pretty disappointed to find out that his own granddaughter doesn't know how to change the tire on her car!

The auction will be held by my parents' house today and I decided to take the day off from work so I could be there. I feel like it is important for me to be there. After all, I watched my Grandpa re-build so many of these engines. Attention must be paid to the fruits of this great man's labor.

I am sure Grandpa is looking down from above and must be smiling to see all these beloved machines lined up, ready for the sale. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how much machinery will be sold today. According to my mom, the pictures don't do it justice, but this gives you an idea! There will be 2 different auction rings and the auctioneer is expecting 1,200 people!

So today another chapter of my Grandpa's life will come to close. But I know that his spirit is not contained in his possessions here on earth. His spirit is best summed up by the quote I used when I spoke at his Prayer Service back in February:

"The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children's children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future."