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Diaryland
My dad's father 2003-11-04 @ 4:32 p.m.
Ok, I insinuated a post or two ago that I'd give you some more information about my extended family. I guess I'll start with my dad's family because it seems less intimidating at this time.
My dad's father's name was Alvin. He died in a hospice in Redmond, WA back in... 1993 I think. Wow, its been awhile. He died od lung cancer and emphysema from heavy cigarette smoking. I've probably learned more about him in the last few years than I have from when he was alive. My grandfather was of Polish Jewish ancestry and grew up in the Bay Area. He was in the navy during World War II and I get the impression that he married my grandmother shortly before he shipped off because he is wearing a sailor's uniform in their wedding photo.
After the war, he came back and had 3 boys with my grandmother. He worked in a couple of different business ventures, including selling insurance at one point (I like to think it was more respectable back then). His most successful business was a pawn shop he ran for many, many years. A lot of his patrons were navy sailors, and he was very generous in helping them with their financial needs.
My grandfather's marriage was troublesome though, and he and my grandmother fought a lot. They divorced after my dad and uncles were adults, but later after many years got back together, although they never remarried. I think they loved each other a lot, but somehow they both fell into some sort of psychological need to pick each other apart. I can remember them fighting over the stupidest little things. One time and one time only I tried to get them to stop, but my grandpa pretty much told me to shutup so I didn't intervene after that.
My grandpa and my grandma lived for a couple years in Rossmoor, a retirement town which is kind of hidden and tucked away in the East Bay and that you can't access except by surface streets. They really enjoyed it but my grandmother always felt she was too young to be living there. Admitedly, she was one of the youngest residents there, but she regretted leaving later on. My grandparents moved up to Washington with us, which kind of surprised me because I didn't think they'd want to be near us so bad. After all, all their friends and family were back in California. And it was kind of lonely for them. But they had a nice home with beautiful landscaping outside Redmond, and they made friends up there and got involved in stuff.
Anyway, my grandpa's health took a turn for the worse and he slowly went downhill over a year or so. We were all sad when he passed away, but we kind of expected it and were prepared for it. I went and saw him not long before he died and I told him that I cared about him. He had trouble speaking then but he was happy to see me and let me know. So that made things a lot easier when he passed away.
"Details in the Fabric" - May 31, 2009
Not So Quick Questions - April 6, 2009
The Morning Stars - Lords of the 15 - April 9, 2009
Sincerity and Faith in Magic - April 10, 2009
Not So Quick Questions (2) - April 14, 2009
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