Grandpa Walter

Since I'm way behind in my blogging, I never posted about the trip that followed Alaska. We went to Oregon to see my grandpa Walter who is nearly 90. He'd been sick and was spending some time in a care center to regain his strength. I wanted to blog about this visit because I always want to remember the way grandpa was. He was an absolute character with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that's always made me smile.

I'm not sure exactly what was being said in this picture but it could have been him talking about racing his wheel chair down the hall or teasing the nurses about helping himself into bed:Perhaps in this picture he's telling about how the other 70 year olds in the care center can't seem to use their utensils and how he can still use a knife and fork just fine - being nearly 20 years their elder. Or maybe he's sharing about the races he "runs" on the treadmill:He really got a kick out of the kids being in the bed instead of him. Whenever we'd ask him if he wanted to lie back down he'd say, "oh no, I'm fine!" (He even bragged about how he can get himself into bed instead of calling a nurse to help him.)

He had many chuckles over the kids arguing about who gets to use his wheelchair. He kept telling them they could race it down the hall if they wanted:

Since this visit in late July, my spry grandpa has been released back to his home on Bear Creek Ranch. We will celebrate his 90th birthday with him over Labor Day weekend! Love you Grandpa!