Happy 100th Birthday Grandpa!

Today is my Grandpa's 100th birthday---my Uncle invited us to their new house to celebrate, with pizza, beer & cake---all things my Grandpa never was able to eat when he lived since he was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 17. He died when I was a sophomore in high school. I remember him as being quiet, wearing plaid wool shirts over his tee shirts, kinda baggy khaki pants and paint spattered light brown leather shoes. What's really cool is that he was a sign painter, designer---just like my husband is now. Sadly they never met, but Brad's first shop was his old sign shop---which my Granny loved!

At the party today, my Uncle had a lot of little things out for us to see that used to be my Grandpa's---books, billfolds with his old drivers licenses, job related receipts, sketches, wooden bowls he made on his lathe, and a fun little diary from 1923, 1924 where he had short entries---"Went to school, came home, went out to the woods with friends to check mink or muskrat traps, bait "et" but empty. Played checkers, went to bed 15 to 12..."---totally cool! Brad really liked these stamps---one I've inverted so it's easier to read---I'm guessing Grandpa designed these and had them made.




The photo below shows my Grandpa---he's the one with the glasses---this is a close-up of a much larger photo showing 20-30 display artists in the Portland area---not sure when, but guessing the 30's or 40's. He worked for a while doing shop displays in Portland---way back when. Happy Birthday Grandpa!