Today, Sunday, October 4th, 2009, my Grandpa Louie's ashes were scattered by his family in Tioga, Colorado, his childhood home. This past Friday, October 2nd, family and friends met together for a memorial and reception. Afterward our family went to Grandma's house for lunch. I made a slideshow of the day's events. You can watch it at the end of this blog.
But first, I want to say a few more things about my Grandpa. I heard stories I had never heard before. And I met people I never remember meeting before. But the one thing that drew us all together was love for Louie...or Luke...or Lucas...Louis Zinanti.
Week 2.8: I Love You All the World is a common phrase my Grandpa Louie would say to each of his grandchildren as he was leaving. My cousin, Mike, shared those parting words as he read during the memorial.
It jogged my own memory. I can hear my Grandpa Louie as he stooped to wrap me in a big hug with a whiskery kiss: "Honey, remember, yer Grampa loves you." He referred to himself in the third person... "Yer Grampa doesn't want you to...(fill in the blank)." Or, "Yer Grampa has a cookie...you wanna cookie?" Or, the famous, "Yer Grampa's gonna give you a whoopin'." (Which I told you last week, never happened to any of us, as far as I know...) He was always a big softie for as long as I knew him...my whole life.
Turns out, he was a softie for even longer...I found out that he took all 3 of my Grandma Dora's kids (Sandy, Wayne and Debbie, my mom) with them on their first date. They went to dinner for "hamboogers." Yes. That's how he actually said it. And he wasn't joking. It's just how he said it. Anyway, don't let how he pronounced hamburgers detract from what he did... He took my Grandma Dora and her THREE kids on her first date with him. Who does that?
But it gets better. My grandparents got married in the courthouse...and later had a ceremony. They never had an actual honeymoon. My grandma says grandpa still owes her a honeymoon...technically. I guess after they got married they headed to Denver to meet grandpa's relatives. They only made it to Canon City before grandpa realized grandma was too quiet. He asked her if she was feeling alright. She wasn't; she missed the kids. Grandpa turned the car around to go back for the kids. When my grandpa finally had a chance to get my grandma all to himself, he went back for the kids.
And when they went on vacations, he took the kids. Oh, yeah, I should mention the ages of the kids: 14, 13, and 11. Yeah. When my grandpa married my grandma, he took on 3 kids: two teenagers and one not too far from the crazy teen years. My Uncle Wayne joked that the Korean War probably didn't look so bad sometimes. My mom has great memories of places called Creede and Sleepy Hollow and Long Lake and Monument Lake. She remembers staying in cabins and fishing in Colorado's Western Slope. She remembers my grandpa spending time with her.
My Grandpa Louie and Grandma Dora also had a hand in raising my cousins, Dori and Chris, as well. So for most of the 44 years my grandparents were together, they've been taking care of kids in one form or another. That must've been hard at times. I never heard him complain about us. I only heard him tell us: I Love You All the World.
Well, Grandpa. I Love You All the World. I hope I'm like you. I hope I always love kids and want them around. I hope I enjoy taking them on vacations...and actually spending time with them. I hope they remember I spent time with them, loving them.
Remember, your granddaughter loves you.
You can view my Grandpa Louie's memorial here:
mediamagicfilms.com/LouisZinanti.wmv
And my slideshow here:
(It has sound, if you want it; otherwise, turn it off.)
But first, I want to say a few more things about my Grandpa. I heard stories I had never heard before. And I met people I never remember meeting before. But the one thing that drew us all together was love for Louie...or Luke...or Lucas...Louis Zinanti.
Week 2.8: I Love You All the World is a common phrase my Grandpa Louie would say to each of his grandchildren as he was leaving. My cousin, Mike, shared those parting words as he read during the memorial.
It jogged my own memory. I can hear my Grandpa Louie as he stooped to wrap me in a big hug with a whiskery kiss: "Honey, remember, yer Grampa loves you." He referred to himself in the third person... "Yer Grampa doesn't want you to...(fill in the blank)." Or, "Yer Grampa has a cookie...you wanna cookie?" Or, the famous, "Yer Grampa's gonna give you a whoopin'." (Which I told you last week, never happened to any of us, as far as I know...) He was always a big softie for as long as I knew him...my whole life.
Turns out, he was a softie for even longer...I found out that he took all 3 of my Grandma Dora's kids (Sandy, Wayne and Debbie, my mom) with them on their first date. They went to dinner for "hamboogers." Yes. That's how he actually said it. And he wasn't joking. It's just how he said it. Anyway, don't let how he pronounced hamburgers detract from what he did... He took my Grandma Dora and her THREE kids on her first date with him. Who does that?
But it gets better. My grandparents got married in the courthouse...and later had a ceremony. They never had an actual honeymoon. My grandma says grandpa still owes her a honeymoon...technically. I guess after they got married they headed to Denver to meet grandpa's relatives. They only made it to Canon City before grandpa realized grandma was too quiet. He asked her if she was feeling alright. She wasn't; she missed the kids. Grandpa turned the car around to go back for the kids. When my grandpa finally had a chance to get my grandma all to himself, he went back for the kids.
And when they went on vacations, he took the kids. Oh, yeah, I should mention the ages of the kids: 14, 13, and 11. Yeah. When my grandpa married my grandma, he took on 3 kids: two teenagers and one not too far from the crazy teen years. My Uncle Wayne joked that the Korean War probably didn't look so bad sometimes. My mom has great memories of places called Creede and Sleepy Hollow and Long Lake and Monument Lake. She remembers staying in cabins and fishing in Colorado's Western Slope. She remembers my grandpa spending time with her.
My Grandpa Louie and Grandma Dora also had a hand in raising my cousins, Dori and Chris, as well. So for most of the 44 years my grandparents were together, they've been taking care of kids in one form or another. That must've been hard at times. I never heard him complain about us. I only heard him tell us: I Love You All the World.
Well, Grandpa. I Love You All the World. I hope I'm like you. I hope I always love kids and want them around. I hope I enjoy taking them on vacations...and actually spending time with them. I hope they remember I spent time with them, loving them.
Remember, your granddaughter loves you.
You can view my Grandpa Louie's memorial here:
mediamagicfilms.com/LouisZinanti.wmv
And my slideshow here:
(It has sound, if you want it; otherwise, turn it off.)
2 comments:
I really like your work taking pictures of the cards... You did a great job capturing people's emotions. I LOVE the burger king hat. And, of course, I would love the flag picture. Amazing great.
SCM
I almost cried.
-leah shmee
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