Things grandpa used to say

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Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

While worrying about my younger brother, who is recovering from dysentery on a farm somewhere on the lower flanks of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the words of our grandfather are ringing through my ears, "Why would any fool want to go to a third world country where they don’t have proper sanitation!?!?"

In light of today’s feast day, what are some of the things your grandparents used say (or still say) ?
 
My grandmother would every day call my home to see if I got home from school ok.

The phone would ring as I climbed the stairs, and I’d rush to answer. And Grandma every time would ask, “are you home from school?”

She died when I was a sophomore in high school.

She’d also call after we would visit. The same scenario, the phone would ring as we climbed the steps to our apartment. “Are you home?”
 
Grandpa would give me two quarters every time I saw him. As I got older, 3 quarters. “Buy yourself an ice cream cone.”
 
Also Grandpa when we lived above him after Grandma died. “Come downstairs, I made coffee!”

And we’d have coffee and walnut coffee cake.
 
“I knew you would be here…” what my grandfather would say to me when I would be waiting at the bus stop, when he came back from a doctor’s appointment. Also when ever I would cry he would get some ice cream put it in front of me “here, this will make it all better.” and " sure you can stay home from school today, tell your mother I said so"I miss that dear man who brought great joy into my life. Thank you for giving me many happy thoughts today. God bless and my prayers for your brother.🦋
 
My grandfather used to say, "come here Katie I have something special for you " after he came from the market and give me a can of soda.

Most times it was club soda, yuck ☺️ But I was so happy he remembered to buy a treat for me. I was not allowed to drink any soda, and he knew it so it was a secret for when I was sad to cheer me up.
 
My grandma used to say “Oh great comedy!” In a sarcastic way every time an issue was discussed in our family that was being exaggerated as a great tragedy/or great gossip.
My other grandma from my father’s side used to say “Oh you little unwilling ones!” as an endearing remark. She was a devout church goer. Years later I found out being called “unwilling” is actually a quality and a compliment for a Christian. My mom was never found of this expression, she mistook it as a sign of grandma looking down upon people. Oh well… great comedy!
 
My grandma used to give us her own dispensation from too much fasting during Lent. “A working man needs his strength!” she used to say.
tad said:
While worrying about my younger brother,
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I hope your brother is feeling better. Sounds like quite an adventure!
 
christofirst said:
I hope your brother is feeling better. Sounds like quite an adventure!
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He is. He’s down off the mountain now and on safari. He reports zebras in camp.

I’ve probably put on more trail miles and stood on more peaks with my brother than any other person. I started researching what it takes to climb Kilimanjaro and it takes at least five days and they recommend more to get used to the altitude. It looks too intense for me. The older I get the more I prefer a wide trail on level ground. I thought I had climbed my last peak at age 50, but I’ve stood on top of a couple more since then.

My grandpa used to make trails. He never wanted to go hiking because that was his job. I asked him if he wanted to climb a mountain in North Carolina once. He said he probably wouldn’t make it back down, he was getting that old.
 
My maternal grand mother used to say “fiddle sticks” when she’d get mad or frustrated.

My maternal grand father used to say “I don’t like that man he is a cheat” every time we would see a local grocer outside his store. He never told me, but I asked my mom years later and she told me he cheated with the ration cards during WW 2.

They both had the phrase “that is a waste of money” in common when I asked for something like candy or pop.
 
Glad to hear your brother is alright…Now would you kindly tell us the greatest adventure you have been on, either by yourself, with your brother or others. It sounds great. and if you don’t mind I’d like to hear it…God bless both you and your brother…
 
The highest I’ve ever climbed is Mount Hoffman in Yosemite, which is just under 11,000 feet, puny compared to Kilimanjaro’s 19,000 ft. That was back in my 20s. I do tend to get altitude sickness, and I’m also prone to heat exhaustion. I had one or the other of those when I climbed Half Dome, also in Yosemite. I threw up, and having foolishly used up all my water, I drank from the stream on the hike back to camp. This led to a most unpleasant case of giardia 😣😫😠. I’ve learned that I’m better off not going too far into the wilderness!
 
I never knew any of my grandparents as they al past on before I was born 🤔
I do feel like I know my maternal grandmother though,as mum spoke so much of her .She knew my mum was expecting me before she died.
 
Greenfields said:
I do feel like I know my maternal grandmother though,as mum spoke so much of her .She knew my mum was expecting me before she died.
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That is sad, but it is good to hear stories told of them by those that knew them.

The last of my grandparents died in 1971, and I miss them all.

I only have a picture of one of them with a fire taking the rest. That picture is of my maternal grand father in an oval frame and colorized via oil paints. It was taken in 1917, in France, with him in uniform standing at attention with Old Glory in the background.
 
The greatest adventure was probably a backpacking trip my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I took with some friends to the Havasupai reservation deep in the Grand Canyon. It’s famous for it’s blue-green water, waterfalls and travertine deposits. There’s caves that run behind the waterfalls which serve as trails to get from the top to the bottom. It was like being on another world with the roar and mist of the water, the blue-green color and the dark red travertine sheets which looked like you were looking out the mouth of some primordial monster. It was pretty exhilarating.
 
I’ve climbed a 14’er in Colorado but that was a long time ago. Back then I didn’t have any trouble with the altitude. My brother had to help me crawl off a peak in Glacier Nat’l Park a couple of years ago. It wasn’t having enough water which was the problem but not having enough salt. I was having really bad muscle cramps. The last mile up the peak and the last 6 down really hurt. Fortunately he’s a physical therapist and he was able to stretch me out on the side of that mountain.

I should have know better, this used to happened to me a lot when I played Ultimate. Eating bananas the day before a tournament alleviated the problem.
 
Thank you for posting that. I googled Havasupal and it is beautiful…There are so many wondrous places in God’s world for us to see, we just need to take the time. God bless you
 
When my lower back spasms, walking to the bathroom seems like a great accomplishment. I can’t imagine climbing down a mountain in that condition!
 
My brother is back home from Africa, but he has a fever. The flight must have been grueling. I should know, he nearly ripped my arm off last summer in a tubing accident, and I had to fly across the country with my arm black and blue and about three times its size. I was up for over 24 hours that day.
 
I finally talked to my brother tonight. He has malaria. He’s doing OK, tired but regaining his strength.

Anyhoo, back to things grandpa used to say.

Pop was a big fan of letter writing. He thought that people talked just to hear themselves, but if they sat down to write it was because they really had something to say.

I’m not sure how he would have felt about modern day internet forums, but I think it’s why I’m attracted to them.
 
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