This is my grandpa.
His picture was one of dozens included in a slide show as part of the Remembrance Day assembly at school today – all relatives of people in our school community.
My grandpa was part of the 101st Airborne division for the American Allies during World War II, and parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He also did art and learned exotic languages for fun and read a lot and collected interesting items. By all accounts, he was an extraordinary person.
He survived the war, but died when I was two. I wish he had had more years to spend with his wife and children – and grandchildren. I wish I could talk to him, or at least remember him. I’m glad some of you do.
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Shep taught me the meaning of ‘yope’ which is halfway between ‘yep’ and ‘nope.’ It is conveyed nonverbally with a circular motion of the head, combining a nod and a slow shake. He also showed me how to make a mean peanut butter foldie. My memories of him are now at least thirty years old and much more hazy than I’d like them to be; I’ve learned much more about him through the things he collected and the stories about him than by actual first-hand memories…but I do remember him being a first-rate grandpa.
Shep also invented the “double-brown foldie”: a piece of bread with peanut butter on half and jalapeno bean dip on the half, folded together! A creative genius!
Oops! …”on the OTHER half”… was meant