Gopher Hole Dimple - Spending Treasure XII

Though it is only January, I’ve been doing some “spring cleaning”.  The weather has been so beautiful with such wonderful days of sunshine that it has put me in the mood to clean and re-organize. While cleaning, I came across a folder that had several stories I had written for Creative Writing class, during my High School years. I hadn’t seen this folder in many, many years, so I decided to stop and read through a few of them.

I came across one paper that was a character sketch of my grandpa.  My grandparents lived next door to us while I was growing up, and I have many fond memories.

I don’t believe the exact incident that I was writing about actually happened, but it was an accurate description of my grandpa. Though in the paper, I elude to being his favorite grandchild, I’m sure that was not the case. I’m sure he had no favorites. While I am not saying that my sketch was well-written, I did really enjoy reading it after all these years. It just seemed to bring my grandpa close to me again after his passing, all these years later. As life moves forward, ones love never fades for those that have gone before us, but memories sometimes do.  This little paper that I had written seemed to bring Grandpa back to life for just a bit - hard to explain. I had the best grandparents in the whole wide world ….on both sides of my family. And I loved my childhood. It’s fun to relive some of my memories in this fashion. Part of what is revealed to me in the paper, is that my grandpa was someone that I could undoubtedly trust and respect. I decided to post this sketch here, simply to share a part of my grandpa with you. J

I was alone on a Saturday night with nothing to do.  Everything was quiet and it made the wind and rain outside sound that much louder.  I could have watched TV or listened to the radio, but I was feeling too sorry for myself to do anything that might make me feel even a little bit better, so I sat.

The next thing I knew someone rapped on the back door and then opened it calling a questioning “hello” to anyone who would answer. I knew at once it was my grandpa, so I ran to the kitchen to welcome him.

He stood there in his long dark over coat, his dress hat cocked over one ear.  He was in such good health for a man of 75, and though sometimes he walked a bit bent over from a back that had seen better days, he always straightened his posture to stand tall and erect to look you in the eye as he visited. What little hair he had was pure white and neatly combed straight back.  His eyes sparkled with laughter as they always seemed to do.

He hugged me and then I pulled him into the living room so we could sit and talk.  He had just returned from a long awaited vacation out of state, and I knew he was anxious to tell me about it.  But he also could see there was something bothering me.  Good ol’ Gramps always ready to offer advice - always from Scripture; but never forcing me to take it. This was a praying man.

I was very close to my grandpa and I liked to believe I was his favorite granddaughter, but it was funny; this was the first time I had ever really looked at him. I mean, really look at him. His face was strong and lined with wrinkles, but most of them seemed to be “laugh wrinkles” rather than from age. He had a dimple on one cheek that was the size of a gopher hole and his eyes were a deep blue that always told me just what he was feeling - a window to his soul.

Right now he only wanted to help me out and cheer me up.  He did just that; and when he got up to leave I helped him on with his coat and then I watched him go slowly out the front door. From the light of the porch, I could watch him cross the yard and out of sight. Though bent with age, my grandpa was strong in heart.



Ok; while this isn’t that well-written, (gopher hole dimple?) I really appreciated the memory it invoked…it’s partly why I like to write.



Grandpa's sense of humor

Grandma and Grandpa