I only have/had one Grandpa. My dad didn't have much to do with his family and my Grandpa Watson died when I was younger. They were all the way in California.
I was thinking about the name of this blog, "Memories of Grandpa Rue". For me it kind of feels like there is more information there than I need. I am not making a dig at the title or anything of the sort. This blog is meant for a lot of people to use, and lots of them have/have had more than one Grandpa. I am simply making an observation that in my life he wasn't Grandpa Rue. He was just Grandpa. It is kind of like if I were talking to my mom about Nicky and said, "My cousin Nicky." All I need to say is "Nicky".
In my life if I were referring to some other Grandfatherly figure, they received the modifiers. Grandpa Olsen, Grandpa Guy, Grandpa Watson. If "Grandpa" was ever mentioned in conversation, it was Grandpa Rue.
In fact, it feels funny saying "when 'Grandpa' was mentioned in conversation... it was Grandpa Rue". My thought actually went more like this, "when 'Grandpa' was mentioned in conversation... it was Grandpa". It is kind of like when you talk to your friends about your parents you say, "My mom." When you're talking to your sibling you don't say, "My mom" you say "Mom".
Things changed when I had Daphne. Suddenly we were dealing with 3 more Grandpa's than I was used to! Again, they all received the modifiers. Well, except when we were talking to Daphne about Grandpa, then he became Papa Rue. Otherwise, when "Grandpa" was mentioned in conversation not directly involving Daphne, it meant Grandpa Rue.
He was also the last Grandpa Trevor had. When we first married he kept calling Grandpa "Grandpa" and I had to tell him that he didn't have to do that. In our family we just used names. Josh and David didn't call him Grandpa and Larry, Garth, Vernon, and Kent certainly didn't call him "Dad". He was Rue to all of them, or sir depending on how stern he was being. Trevor told me that he hadn't had a Grandpa in a long time and kind of wanted to have one again.
I'm telling you, there must have just been something about Grandpa. He's just Grandpa and that's all there is to it.
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5 comments:
When my Grandpa Labrum died, I was only 5. So I didn't grow up with any other grandpa but Grandpa but I had other cousins that did. Just like I have MANY other "uncle Mike" and "Aunt Linda". I have thought the same thing you have Chels, on my dads side we call my aunt by "Aunt Mary" or "Uncle Ross" but on my moms side it's just "Julie". I guess it is also about their age. My dads brothers and sisters are much older. So I see where you are coming from.
Good job Chelsie.
You are right, Chelsie. He was Grandpa. When I grew up we had Grandpa Ware and Grandpa Olsen or just Grandpa when we were talking to whichever family. We knew who we were talking about because of the situation. But, like you, when the next generation came along, and we were just speaking to them, grandpa wasn't enough. They needed to know which Grandpa we were talking about, Grandpa Labrum (never Grandpa Ivan Boyce), Grandpa Rue or Ware..and for a few years Grandpa Guy. Had to be Grandpa Guy because Grandpa Ware was Rue.....I'm all confused myself. And like Nicky said, they have an Aunt Linda on each side, several Uncle Mikes, a Luanne and Ruanne, but there is one Julie! :) And now Barrett's kinds have two Nancy's (Chantel's mom and Barrett's sister) and two Nicky's (Chantel's sister and Barrett's sistern) Both of Tyler's grandmothers are named Lori.....boy, names can sure be confusing!
And my proofreading and/or typing/spelling has much to be desired.
I also think that the relationship plays a big role in how you refer to someone. I am much closer to Grandpa Rue than I was to Grandpa Labrum so in that aspect I do refer to him as Grandpa. Same with the Aunts and Uncles. We had a closer relationship with Julie and Ruanne and even Linda than we did with those on the other side of the family.
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