Our dishwasher is broken. While we wait for our new one, I have to hand wash every dish, bowl, utensil, sippy cup...saying "I can't wait until we get a new dishwasher" is an understatement. While I stand at the sink washing every morning, noon, and night, I have time to think. Most of the time, I think about everything I need to get done around the house, for my babes, to make dinner. But the other night, I started thinking about my Papa. My Dad's Dad.
He was so funny. He loved to play tricks on people. One trick he liked to play was this: we would all be eating ice cream around the pink table, and he would say to one of us kids, "what's that over there?!?" And when we would turn to look, he would take our bowl of ice cream, and hide it under the table. He would be sitting there with his most innocent face, but we knew it was him. He would also try to steal bites of our ice cream. He loved ice cream. Whenever I see a flavor like, vanilla fudge swirl, I think of him.
He loved to swim. He used to do this thing where he would balance on top of a ball, and using his hands, paddle down the length of the pool. There were always a ton of pool floats, and fun things to play with. I'm not sure if he bought them, or if it was Mama, our Grandmother. But, I'm pretty sure it was him because Mama didn't like to swim. Even if we were visiting in the middle of Winter, Papa would have the pool all cleaned up, and ready for us. I remember reading the temperature of the water when we visiting one time in February. It was somewhere in the 60 degree range. We didn't care. We swam anyways.
One of the things that stands out to me the most about him is this: no matter what, no matter how late it was, no matter how many people ate dinner, no matter how many plates there were...Papa always washed the dishes after dinner. Mama made the dinner. And Papa cleaned it up. We would always try to help him, and sometimes he would accept. But he would only ever let us bring the dishes from the table to the sink. He would always be the one to load them up in the dishwasher. He would be the one scrubbing every pan. I kind of felt bad for him. Watching him clean up every night after dinner. But, now as an adult, I realize, he did it because he loved Mama. And it was his way of thanking her for preparing such lovely meals night after night after night. For over 50 years. I'm not quite sure when he started cleaning up the dishes after dinner, but I remember him doing it when I was still a child.
I'm thankful for my Papa. And all the sweet memories I have of him. But, one of my favorite memories is watching him clean up the kitchen for Mama. I've been remembering him while I clean the dishes every day. And I've been reminded by that memory that we clean up the kitchen, and do all the dishes, not because we have to, but because we want to. Because it's a small way to show someone that you love, just how deep your love goes.
Missing Papa.
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| Is it me, or does Tobin look like a giant baby compared to Sophia. |
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| Tobin waving hi. |
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| Sophia loves her mobile. |
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| Adelyn sleeping in her Rapunzel dress. She literally wears the Rapunzel dress every day now. Morning, noon, and night, and through the night. |
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| Tobin sleeping in his crib. Hands behind his head...just chillin. Cracks me up that he sleeps this way every night. |
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