When I was a kid, pre-teen, we used to go on family vacations to Clear Lake in Ontario, Canada. Various friends and relatives generally joined us for at least part of the time.
I remember one year when my grandparents where with us. There was another family staying at one of the other cabins that had a speedboat. They were nice enough to give all the kids a chance to try water skiing. We were all disasters at it but had a blast anyway. My Pop-Pop sat on the bench by the dock, shouting encouragement, laughing along with us the whole afternoon. While I was waiting my turn, he promised me a chocolate ice cream cone from the lodge if I managed to stand up on the skis.
I think I had either three or four tries and fell each time. Pop-Pop and I had ice cream anyway. We did every day just because it annoyed my grandmother so much. But not chocolate that day.
Years later I had a boyfriend whose family had a boat. He and his father eventually taught me to water ski though I never was very good at it. The first day I made it around the lake I called Pop-Pop and do you know what we did that next Saturday afternoon? Yep, we went out for chocolate ice cream cones! As he told me, a promise was a promise, no matter how old it was.
I remember one year when my grandparents where with us. There was another family staying at one of the other cabins that had a speedboat. They were nice enough to give all the kids a chance to try water skiing. We were all disasters at it but had a blast anyway. My Pop-Pop sat on the bench by the dock, shouting encouragement, laughing along with us the whole afternoon. While I was waiting my turn, he promised me a chocolate ice cream cone from the lodge if I managed to stand up on the skis.
I think I had either three or four tries and fell each time. Pop-Pop and I had ice cream anyway. We did every day just because it annoyed my grandmother so much. But not chocolate that day.
Years later I had a boyfriend whose family had a boat. He and his father eventually taught me to water ski though I never was very good at it. The first day I made it around the lake I called Pop-Pop and do you know what we did that next Saturday afternoon? Yep, we went out for chocolate ice cream cones! As he told me, a promise was a promise, no matter how old it was.
3 comments:
Okay, great story but I have to admit I fixated on the chocolate ice cream and lost the thread of it for a while...chocolate ice cream...mmmm
That's great! Your Pop-Pop sounds loving and sweet:)
I lost my beloved grandfather in 1985, right after a wonderful trip to Gatlinburg, TN. He laughed at the Old Photo of my sis and I dressed like saloon girls and said when I was legal, he'd take me to a bar. Sadly, he died two weeks later, so I guess I'll get that drink when I see him in Heaven:) Or maybe Grandma will say she filled in...she and I went bar-hopping with her friends 3 years later!
I'm with AJ. The ice cream aspect of the story caught me off guard. My favorite THING. YUMMMMM.
Grandfather's are WONDERFUL. I was lucky enough to have a great relationship with ONE of mine...the other passed before I was born. When my dad passed away, it left my kids without a grandpa and though my son knew him, my daughter didn't. She feels the loss of it, I know.
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