Saturday, January 26, 2008

Saturday Scavenger Hunt: Sweet

I'm Southern, so sweet describes a personality trait.

My Greek grandfather, not known for his sweetness, had many other talents, one of which was automotive repair. He bought and restored an old 1919 fire engine in his spare time. Extra time, ha! They owned two businesses. And he had a full time job being cranky and chasing mood swings. That's what I got from him.

I remember visiting them in their tourist town. We had to get up at 0:dark:30 one morning for him to go get the illegal, unregistered fire engine out of storage to give us a ride before the police were awake. It was so very cold even though it was late summer; they were so far north.

I waited on the porch with my younger sister, grandmother, and great grandmother for Papou to bring over the fire truck. I was barely 8, but I was nearly as tall as my grandmothers. They didn't want to take the time to change, so we went in our jammies.

I could tell it was a proud moment for him. Very sweet, showing off his baby. When we were done with the ride, he even flipped the siren and I'm sure he was considered very sweet by his neighbors, too.

I think J resembles my grandmother on the right and I most resemble her mother on the left. I was very lucky in that my great grandmother died after I graduated college and my grandmother died just last year.

He died about 15 years ago ... of lung cancer.

This was Papou in a commemorative parade for their town.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved all the pictures, Cricket!

Anonymous said...

That is a very nice take on the word. I am sure there are many more sweet memories you could have shared.

brite69 said...

I love those pictures! I especially love the look on your face in the first one.

Mahala said...

I love old pictures :)

Nikki Neurotic said...

My "poppop" was a retired firefighter, but I never got to ride in a fire truck. He did however take me to his old firehouse for a Christmas party every year. He died when I was nine. :(

Anonymous said...

Awesome. I, too have the sweet ones on my post.

BTW, I'm tagging you for the next word. :D

laura b. said...

Those are wonderful photos and very sweet memories. I had my grandparents for a long time too and felt lucky.
Can't wait to see what word you choose!

AlienCG said...

That fire engine looks pretty sweet. Good job with the photos and a good choice for next week's word.