Growing up, he was the sterner of the two grandparents. He had the air of authority which demanded respect. And he was a religious man which made me feel like I couldn’t do anything bad around him. I never wanted to disappoint him. Even when I got my one and only MIP I was more afraid of what he would think of me than of my own parents. I love and fear the man with all my heart.

Whenever I needed financial advice, he was the one I asked. Whenever I did something big like buy a house or enter grad school, I craved his approval.

My Grandpa means the world to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model. You can imagine then that he must be a tough guy, a force to be reckoned with. When I moved in with him a year ago, I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

Would he have strict rules to follow? Would he be a grouchy old man, stubborn in his ways, unwilling to deviate from his old man routine?

He’s never been a pet person. Would he kick my dog out from her persistent shenanigans? She’s just a little puppy after all.

And how would our personalities co-exist? We share many values, but our age difference is significant, and our sense of humors don’t exactly match. He can live up to his Boomer stereotype.

But Grandpa and I get along quite well. He wakes me up in the morning with his TV blasting because he can’t hear it. I make his tummy rumble with my fantastic bagel making skills. (I’ve got a great avocado toast bagel sandwich recipe).

He plays with my puppy when I’m at work and puts up with her barking when the neighbors come in and out of their houses. He even opens the curtain for her so she can peek out the window and wait for my arrival. 

I shovel the sidewalks when it snows in hopes he won’t slip. I arrange the patio furniture in the front patio so he can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine and the neighborhood activities.

We visit and laugh in the afternoons or during lunch time when we both criticize my mom’s cooking knowing full well if she didn’t cook then no one would eat. (She is a great cook by the way.)

We even have tea parties where we talk about the old days, eat too many cookies, and reminisce about my Grandma and how she would love this too. I have the best Grandpa in the whole wide world.