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.