Blooie, so sorry for the lose of your grandson. By the story you just told I would say he had an awful lot of you in him. He sounds like a good man.I confess that sometimes I've gotten so wrapped up in the day to day care of my grandkids that I'd kinda forgotten the fun factor. Austin's death reminded me that I don't want to miss a minute of laughing and smiling and silly-time with the amazing little people I have left. In a few days it will be the second anniversary of his death. I usually don't dwell on it - partly because I can't change it anyway and partly because I still haven't accepted his death completely. But his lovely wife, Joy, just posted something on Facebook that reminded me of his amazing sense of humor.
Austin was a kid who made fun wherever he went - please allow me to tell a little Austin story I learned from the young lady he married 8 months before his death. It began with a question about a photo of Austin wearing a fake moustache. After he died Joy took a photo of herself wearing that same moustache. I knew there was a story there, so I asked her about it.
Their first winter together the kids were broke - way broke! But it was their first Christmas as man and wife and he wanted it to be memorable. He and Joy, with a handful of quarters, set out on a quest to find their Christmas. They hit every quarter toy machine they could find and the goodies went into one bag. Christmas Eve Austin took the few ornaments he could scape up and decorated their car for Christmas. He put a warm, red blanket in the car. Then he and Joy sat out in the Christmas car during a freezing cold, snowy Iowa Christmas Eve, and took turns pulling items out of the mystery bag. A huge, gaudy "ruby" ring and that moustache were Austin's favorite gifts that year. Austin actually wore that ring for days, until the cheap plastic finally broke! They had no way to know that their first Christmas would be their only one - but they knew they had to make it count, the way they made every day count!
Austin in his Christmas moustache.
When he was little we all called him "AJ". Somehow that got corrupted into "Ajax", which we all called him for years. So he proposed to Joy by buying them each a bottle of dishwashing liquid, his way of telling her that from that day forward they would work together as a Dream Team.
HaHA dust free absolutely not. It is a disaster. We have an old basement not the kind you use as a living space. When we first moved in part of the basement floor was actually still dirt. It has since been cemented. Any way I will be spending tomorrow with the shop vac in the basement.
mmmmm! We're ready to go in the morning. A little worried about my son missing his daddy, but we might just come home a day or two early since my nieces dad will be coming on the train to meet us on day two (has to work). I'm sure I'll be 10 pages behind when I get back! Haha
But I love that show and Leave it to Beaver!
