What do you remember of your grand parents?

My mother didn't like it much but every so often he would take me to work with him, which I thought was a real hoot, sitting up with him in the guard shack all night at a construction site drinking strong coffee out of his old red plaid Thermos. I could not have been more than 6 or 7 years old then.
I have so many similar memories w/ Grandfathers, Dad and favorite Uncles that I can almost picture being there. Those are some of the best days of our lives, the bad part is as a kid, you don't realize just how good those days were until its too late...
 
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I never knew my dad's mom. She died in 1940 when my dad was 11 years old. I remember a little about his dad even though he died in 1965 when I was 5 years old. Mom's dad passed away in 1971 when I was 11 years old. He was a farmer and some of my fondest memories of him were riding on the tractor with him and the worst memories were during 1970 when he was dying from cancer. My grandmother on mom's side lived to 90 years old. I was 37 when she died so I got to spend lots of time with her. Until she had to go in a nursing home at about 88 or 89 she would prepare Christmas dinner for her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their families. She died of lung cancer in 1997.
 
My great Grandpa (I called him Grandpa Joe) had served in the Navy during WW2. He then worked at the USPS until he retired. He was a very quiet man. He hardly ever talked when we were at family gatherings, especially when we all ate. My great Grandma (I called her GG) was born in Canada and moved around a lot because her then husband was in the Army. He drowned at the beach because he had one too many drinks I was told. GG had a pet bear in Canada, I vaguely remember seeing a picture of it. GG and Grandpa Joe both met and settled in Florida. I believe they married in their late 40’s. Through the time I was born till I was around 15-16 they were always in my life. They passed away in 2015 within 2 months of each other. My most memorable moment with them was eating Wendy’s every Wednesday evening after school. There was nothing like dipping fries in a frosty and eating cheese burgers and spending time with your great grandparents.
 
my maternal grandfather was the smartest man I knew. He had a grade 8 education but was a business owner, "mechanic", builder, bus driver among several other things. He was that older guy that just had the answers to everything! He died just before my 19th birthday. Man I miss that guy!

Just my $0.02
 
Tons. I lived very close to one side, and not too far from the other two. All lived into their 90s and I had a great opportunity to spend lots of time with all of them.

Which was not enough and I’d love so much to have one more day with each of them.
 
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My grandpa from my mother's side died at age 98 last year. I remember him from when I was about 3 years old until he left us. Lots of good times. He was an interesting guy with so many stories to tell. He spent time in Cuba during interesting times. His wife died in 2003. My paternal grandparents died when I was little and I don't remember them well other than from pictures
 
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My grand parents of both sides of my family were wonderful . In fact all my aunts and uncles were a blessing to me as well.
 
Letting my younger self talk her into a 2003 Acura TL type S in 2004... I was maybe 14-ish at the time, but i knew she needed all that power and 7,000 RPM red line! How i miss her to this day. ❤️❤️❤️ This car outlasted her by a year, and blew the transmission in 2018.. (and yes i did 3X3 every 20K for the first 75K miles)
 

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Don't remember much about my father's father as I was only four when he passed in 1951. He was a farmer. I remember my father's mother very well, but we kids were sent out to play whenever we visited. Those were the days where kids were to be seen and not heard. Same with my grandparents on my mother's side. They also were farmers. Weren't very close with the grandparents on either side, but they were good hardworking people.
 
At 55 they looked and acted really old. I remember my grandfather at 55 telling me he was getting old and didn't have long - that was 35 years ago and he just passed away last year. Now I get, he was an uncontrolled diabetic who was as wide as he was tall the entire time I knew him but **** 55 is just an older kid these days!
 
but **** 55 is just an older kid these days!

Absolutely! In my new rock band, we all range from 50's to our keyboardist at 71! Our singer turned 61 last month and just hiked a couple of 4000 footers in the White Mountains. I'll tell you, my body will ache after a long day cutting/splitting wood or working on the house, but I guarantee my recovery time is exponentially less as I keep myself in good shape.
 
My paternal grandfather came over from Italy when he was about 14 years old. I can still hear his voice, he sounded just like Chico Marx when he talked. And I can still remember the smell of my grandmother's kitchen.
 
Never got to meet any but one of my grandfathers. The one on my dads side died in 1963 when my dad was 3 from a heart attack. My moms step dad died in 1999 from colon cancer. Her biological dad died in 2016 I think I’m not sure how I can’t remember. He lived in Arkansas we would go visit him sometimes. My grandma from my dads side was funny, sweet and loving she passed in 2014 I really do miss her. My moms side she is nice and loving too. Always makes the grandkids and great grandkids quilts and blankets and all kinds of stuff. Always makes me baseball and car related ones which I love. Nothing better than a homemade quilt. And always gives me stuff for my dog and stuff like that.
 
I never met my Dad's parents.

The grandparents I did know were wonderful and I had both of them until I was about 25. My grandmother was a beautiful soul who was just sweet as can be. But my Mom said she was not one to mess with growing up with her as a Mom, Lol. When she was young she was a ballerina. The Bolshoi troupe came through the US in the 20's and she danced with them. Talking to her, that was her most proud achievement. She could touch her knee to her nose until she was into her 70's. She passed around 1994 or 1995 of Leukemia. She was holding a picture of Jesus the night she died and told me I'd get the teaching job I wanted so badly. I told her not to worry, that God had a plan. She smiled and said, "I know that," pointing to the picture while clutching it. A few months after she died I got the call and got that very job. What great faith she had!

My grandfather was a little guy but we didn't screw with him. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was a genious with Math, always giving us Math riddles that were just incredible. He was a master gear cutter by trade, which explains alot. Anyway, when in his late 70's, he worked as a machinist for my brother's company, just for fun. I remember a guy came up to him and offered him some chewing tobacco. He said, "If I wanted that, I'd $h*t me some!" Everyone in the plant laughed so hard at that. Anyway, he was a great fisherman, too, and could call birds to his hand. I've got a shot somewhere of him at a campsite with a cardinal on his finger. He whistled it to him. Iincredible. He lived to 95. Broke his hip on a welcome mat at his favorite restaurant. Some grubby family members wanted him to sue. He refused, saying, "I'm 95 years old. If this didn't get me, something else would. Besides, I love that restaurant and the managers treat me well. I wouldn't want to cause them trouble. They were upset enough that I got hurt."

Thanks for this thread, OP. I miss them so much. It is good to think about them. Great stories in here. It reminds us all of the standards we need to meet when we become grandparents.
 
They came from what is now the Czech Republic, over a hundred years ago. It was the Austro Hungarian Empire when they came. I knew them all except one grandfather who died at 60 in 1950. I have only like a toddler memory of him. I still have some of his guns. I guess a summary of them is they were 100% honest and ethical, and extremely austere. Money was not the focus of their lives. They wanted enough to live an average life, but not consumed by getting rich. What they went through probably I could never go through. When my father was born, my grandmother wouldn’t even have had the right to vote. I don’t think a woman could even own property like real estate. Maybe that was earlier. My other grandfather prized possession when he arrived in the USA through Ellis Island was a clothes brush. He told me he worked and saved a long time to buy it. I still have it, just a simple brush in today’s world. He would still wear a suit and a hat to go to the grocery store even into the1980’s when he was around 90.
 
The only grand parent I had growing up was my moms dad.
Born 1883 or 1884 in Broken Bow Nebraska one of 12 kids in a Soddy built out of blocks of sod and rudimentary house fittings.
He was an iron worker in the Chicago area for decades if any buildings or bridges from the 1920's or so are still around there was a good chance he worked on them.
I do remember him telling me he worked on the Chrysler building.
During WWI he went to the east coast to build submarines and later built Liberty ships during WWII.
After moving to N.J. he sold cars and semi retired doing carpentry/handyman work.
A tall man (6'3") for his era.
He lived a long and interesting life and passed at age 93 or 94 even he could not remember the year he was born as he got older.
 
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