Everyone should have a Grandpa Dewey

I have always known that one of the biggest blessings in my life was the great family that I have. I was lucky enough to grow up having both sets of grandparents within 15 minutes of us. My mom's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Dewey, were always very involved in our activities as we were growing up. I remember having them at many of our softball/baseball games, school events, church activities, and several other major milestones in our lives. I have so many GREAT memories with my grandparents, I can't even begin to list them.

Last week, I got a phone call from my mom telling me that my grandpa had passed away. It wasn't too much of a surprise because he was in the hospital due to a stroke he had a few days before that and his health was getting worse as of about a month ago. Although I am sad at the thought of a world without my Grandpa Dewey, I'm so grateful that he didn't have to live in pain or discomfort for too long. My grandma Dewey passed away about 4 1/2 years ago and it just puts a huge smile on my face to think of the reunion they are having now! It's at a time like this that makes me extremely grateful for the knowledge I have that our families are forever. I know that I will see both of my grandparents again and until then I'll just be a little homesick for them...

I know this isn't a great picture but it's the last one that I took of my Grandpa. This is him with Ella and my cousin, Kylie.

These next few are things that I will never be able to look at without thinking of Grandpa Dewey.

I've never met anyone who could eat ice cream faster than my grandpa! If there was a way to make money by eating lots of ice cream as fast as you can scoop it, he'd have been a millionaire!

My grandpa is one of the world's best whistlers (is that how you spell that?) Anyway, when I was younger, he'd always whistle and then ask me, "Did you hear that bird?"

Cooked carrots. My grandpa HATED cooked carrots! When I was a kid, I remember thinking that it was so funny that a grown up didn't like a vegetable that I did like.

If my grandpa wasn't whistling, he was singing...at least until my grandma would yell "Chet! That's enough!" Anyway, for many years he was in this little singing group in Rancho Bernardo called the RB Troubadours. They performed at lots of the little community events and I always thought he was somewhat of a celebrity when he sang!

My grandparents had many fruit trees in their yard but my absolute favorite was the tangerines! I remember my grandma giving me a plastic sack and my grandpa taking me out to gather up as many tangerines as I could hold. To this day, I have yet to buy a tangerine at the store that tastes as good as the ones from their tree!