My Grandad
Gene Thorngren. To me—Just Grandad. What can I say about a special man who was my Grandad? Not everyone has the fortune in life to experience the kindness of a loving steady model—one who passes down a heritage of faith, love, and family values. In my life, Grandad set an example of love and involvement. Every visit with Granddad was initiated with a firm grip on my shoulder with arms that drew me in close for a kiss on the cheek. I always felt an urge to wrap my arms around my grandad and embrace him fully with both arms, but he would hold me at arm’s length looking me squarely in the eyes with his warming smile that communicated his love clearly enough.
He was the kind of Grandad who never sat back and enjoyed his grandchildren from a safe observant distance. He engaged. He was a relations man (just like his son who is my father!) and he wanted to be involved in a persona way with everyone’s life. Being with grandad always meant an invitation into his world with the promising pleasure of taking a walk to the post office, picking tomatoes or green beans in the garden, or helping him clean fish in the shed. And he entered into our live, too, with offers to take his grandchildren water skiing or fishing or to plan a long game of royal rummy. Grandad was easy to be with. There was always a sense of familiarity, warmth, and security—a sense of fun and enjoyment.
And don’t forget his humor. I loved Grandad’s sense of humor—one of the traits that, even into his later years, he carried with him. A corny joke with a half-smile was often on the tip of his tongue. He was a man who liked activity and he was full of energy and curiosity. Visiting grandad, whether in Okoboji, Iowa or in Mesa Arizona always meant a daily walk around the park or neighborhood, stopping to say a momentary hello to everyone along the way—neighbors, postmen, waitresses, nurses—anyone in his path. And Grandad had a servant’s heart, always finding small ways to help wherever he was. In Mesa during our visits, he would proudly show me his volunteer badges, marks of his community service which usually included sorting mail folding bulletins or pushing wheelchairs for old ladies in the retirement living home. He just loved being around people and he love helping.
Grandad had a simple recipe for living a long life—try to follow the ten commandments, walk three miles a day, drink a glass of red wine for happy hour, eat a green and yellow vegetable every day and bowl of ice cream for dessert! By my observation Grandad lived a simple faith filled life, trying his best to follow God and the precepts of the Bible. The evidence of his faith was mostly seen in a life that exhibited the characteristics of Godly living: love, acceptance, kindness, service, and humility and most of all a contented thankful spirit.