THE AIR IS CRISP, winter is at our doorstep and Thanksgiving is just days away as I write this new post. This is a strange time of year for me because I've finally realized that "things" have changed so much since I was a child... counting the days until Christmas.
Like many people, I spent my childhood in a single parent home and only got to see my entire family...at Thanksgiving and Christmas. All the members of our family would load their cars and meet at....you guessed it..grandma's house. My all consuming thoughts during this time of year, between the age of 7-14, were Thanksgiving dinner, girls, Christmas gifts soon to come and seeing my grandparents.
I'll skip the expected answers mentioned above for now..(food, girls and gifts) and tell you quickly about my grandparents..(keep reading...I'll keep it short and perhaps spark a memory for you as well.)
KENNY & GENNY SHADE...ALWAYS had smiles, laughter, stories to tell and people loved to be around them. Grandparents always seem "old" I guess.. but they were only in their late 40's & early 50's as I remember my childhood. Kenny & Genny loved to sing and whistle all the time around their house and you would find Genny at the piano at least once a day. My grandparents also loved to dance and would often turn the kitchen into their own private ball room with a random waltz while grandma Genny was cooking.
It was true love...true safety...true storybook and of course it was perfect to watch two people enjoy each other so much.
IT WOULD BE EASY to write a book about my grandparents and how they loved each other well over their years together. There are many stories and many smile to share...but as with life comes death and we lost my wonderful dancing, singing, story telling grandfather Kenny Shade at the young age of 54 to Cancer. It was just a couple days after Thanksgiving in 1979 and I will never forget what he brought to my life in my youngest years. I love to sing..I love to dance...I love to tell stories... just like Kenny Shade. He took me fishing, he watched me play baseball, he would come and find me when I played hide-n-seek. He loved his wife, five children and his little dog "Trinka" with all of his heart. Grandpa Kenny...You are missed.. and this year I give thanks for YOU and the years you made me laugh as a child. I wish the world was full of Grandpa Kenny's.
AS YOU FINISH reading this story...be thankful for those grandparents and great grandparents who provided a home for a great Thanksgiving dinner and provided the foundations for our freedom as Americans. Kenny fought in World War II and as I look at his old photo....I see the strangest thing..... ME. I look JUST like HIM.... One thing is for sure ... I doubt I'll ever BE half the man he was...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING GRANDPA KENNY....I'll see you again one day.
