I remember my grandfather as quite the character. I know him very well because I was so young but he seemed sort of stern to me, with a no nonsense personality. He wasn’t mean, just distant. I learned more
about him after he died from reading his book “Growing Up in the Palouse”.
A few childhood memories stand out. On some occasions when my parents went out,
usually on Saturday nights, my siblings and I went to Grandma and Grandpa
West’s house to spend the night and watch Lawrence Welk on their color
television. Breakfast on Sunday morning was poached eggs on toast.
My grandparents were into flowers
and gardening. Their yard was beautiful,
with big trees and a trellis. The front part of the lawn was gently sloped down
to the street. Rolling down the hill was
great fun. We also helped with yard work. My grandfather had this weeding tool
for digging up chickweed. It was a great
job for kids.We had snack breaks in the shade of the trees.
A large part of my memories about
Grandpa West was West’s Food Store. He and my grandmother ran the store. My dad worked there as well and local people were hired to help. Grandpa let me go into the back room and watch him candle eggs to make sure the eggs bought to sell at the store were in good shape. At the end of the year the whole family helped with the inventory and we counted and recorded it the old fashioned way.
We kids had
a running tab at the store. As part of
our summer routine we stopped at the store on our way home for snacks. Our friends
thought it was neat that we didn’t need money.
Grandpa was
a photographer. He loved taking pictures
at our family gatherings. It seemed to me that we took a long time posing for
these but of course I was just a little kid.
He also had a slide projector so we were treated to family slide shows
at family gatherings. He had a pair of binoculars that he used for bird watching and he taught me the names of birds. Sometimes birds flew into the big
picture window of his house, breaking their little necks. This was always so sad to me.
Tekoah
wrote to Grandpa when she was a little girl.
He was so moved that he wrote her back and also sent us gift
certificates each year at Christmas time from JC Penny’s which made Christmas
for us for several years, as we lived at the Israel Family ranch and didn’t
have much money. We’d go shopping and get an outfit each for the kids and then
get the money that was left over. I
don’t think that stores allow that anymore but at the time it was most helpful.
I still
have some of my grandfather’s letters.
He had trouble with his eyesight but he wrote anyway on a typewriter. He listened to books on tape.
He also could recite all the names of the presidents of the United States. He believed in keeping his mind active and
thinking positive.
At one point
in his life Grandfather had a spirit guide that spoke to him through an Ouija
board. This fascinated when I discovered
this, as I am very interested in the metaphysical as well. His guide’s name was Lena.
When
grandpa was a young man his sister committed suicide at the age of l7. Her
name was Bessie, She shot herself and from what I understand no one really knew
the reason why. She left a note that
said “what’s the use”. She had been
staying in town and going to school, as the family at that time lived out in
the country. Six months later his
brother died from a gunshot wound. Some say it was an accident but my grandfather claimed it was a suicide. This tragedy was not talked about much. I have always wondered about Great Aunt
Bessie. I guess we will never know what
drove her to take her own life.
Grandpa’s heart was broken when Grandma Olga died and it took him years to adjust. For awhile he still lived in the apartment
above the store and came up to have dinners with Mom and Dad. Dad would take
him for his doctor’s check ups. During the winter he went to Santa Barbara to
be with my Aunt Doris.
My dad
likes to tell about what Grandpa said right before he died. “I ran out of positive thoughts”.
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