My next thank you goes to my mother’s parents; Bamp (the grandkid’s name for our grandfather) and Grammy Lunney. I loved their little house in Westfield, Maine. It was the safest place on earth to me. Bamp taught me to play cribbage and cared nothing about your self-esteem; in cribbage if you don’t count all your points, the other person can take the points; Bamp would take my points, even when I was 7 and 8. It taught me to pay attention. My grandfather was a hard-working man of Irish descent, I think in many ways he passed that trait down to his children, which in turn was passed down to me. His steadiness in my early life filled a void. He died too young from complications from a car accident where he suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. I will never forget getting the news when I was stationed at Cannon AFB in New Mexico. My grandmother is still remembered in my family as a great cook. Her cinnamon rolls were my FAVORITE thing she made; closely followed by her homemade donuts. She doted on her grandkids and loved them without limit. Gram was a reader and a night owl. She loved old movies and television. I loved the safety that I always felt at their house as a kid. The picture below is me and Gram in 1959.
Jun 06, 2014 @ 23:49:37
Oh Mike this is such a great picture and so nicely said. Describes your Gram and Bamp perfectly. Loved them both so much. Your grandfather loved to dream up a way to scare us on Halloween. I think he looked forward to it every year.
Jun 10, 2014 @ 00:43:41
Wonderful, Mike – I loved my sleepovers with Aunt Mable and Uncle Ellery! Taught me so much about love and family…