Grandpa

“ Tootsy. Money can buy everything, can't it, Grandpa?
Grandpa. No, my dear, not quite everything.
Dumpling. But suppose we wish for something that money can't buy?
Grandpa. I'd try to get it for you some other way.
Tootsy. How, Grandpa; how? [Pg 137]
Grandpa. Why, I'd tell the Wishing Man. He'd get it for you.
Grandma. Come along, John; don't put such nonsense in the children's heads.
Father. We must hurry along to Aunt Clara's, children. But this is Christmas night. You may all stay up tonight just as long as you wish.
Dumpling. Oh, can we? Can we?
Mother. Yes. Cecelia will look after you. ”

“ Grandpa, I remember that my brother wrote a piece last Christmas, which you called Brotherly Love.—I wish I could remember it.
Grandfather. I recollect it;—you shall learn to repeat it.
William. I shall like that; pray let me hear it now, sir.
Grandfather. You shall.
“The children of our family should [Pg 113] be like the fingers on a hand; each help the other, and each in his separate station promote the good of the whole. The joy of one should be the joy of the whole. Children in a house should agree together like the birds in a nest, and love each other.” ”

“ Then, indeed, one needs the assurance of immortality, the conviction that Grandpa is, little as one might think it, still growing up, and that this simulacrum of Grandpa that still remains to be looked after, must not be taken too seriously. These olde, olde, very olde men are not all just alike: there are grandpas whom anybody might be proud to take care of, and grandpas whom anybody might be excused for wishing (as the brisk, modern phrase has it) to sidestep. ”

“ To Grandpa's; and there find enough
Of turkeys, plum-puddings, and pies by the dozens,
For Grandpa' and Grandma', aunts, uncles and cousins;
And at night we'll all play blind-man's-buff.
"Perhaps we'll get Grandpa' to tell us some stories
About the old times, with their
Whigs
and their
Tories
;
And what sort of men they could be;
When some spread their tables without any cloth,
With basins and spoons, and the fuming bean-broth,
Which they took for their coffee and tea.
"They'd queer kind of sights, I have heard Grandma' say,
About in their streets ”

“ Little mittens had to be made for our hands. Little jackets and caps for the boys, in which all took an interest, and grandpa, too, did his share. He made little fur suits for the boys, caps and all. Father would read to us from the big family Bible and explain to us as he read. Then he would sing the hymns he loved so well, mother joining in. Then grandpa would sing with mother their French glee songs, while us children would join in. Then grandpa would rock me in the low cradle and the boys grew [Pg 43] impatient because it kept the fur suits from being made so fast. ”

“ And now it seems to me I have known grandpa always, and was with him when he used to go with his mamma and little brothers and sisters into the country, with a company of the neighbors, all in little French carts, to gather strawberries and blackberries, which grew in abundance in Lucas Place, Chouteau avenue, and all about, where now are elegant mansions and paved streets. It was then a prairie, with clumps of trees here and there, springs of water and sweet wild flowers. ”

“ We have our troubles. You have not seen grandpa. He’s sick in bed. He can’t move except his hands and head and they shake all the time. He says he is a corpse with a chill and lies in his bed with nothing to do but wait. When I ask ‘Wait for what?’ He answers, ‘Tomorrow.’ To me tomorrow is like today. The cows will go to pasture, the creek will run over the same pebbles, the mail man will come at noon and stop for dinner, the lark will sing the same song; but if I stump my toe it will be well tomorrow. Go in and talk to grandpa. He likes to hear things. He lies on his bed until his bones ache. ”

“ You can boast of your tailor-made raiment, And the collar that strangles your throat; But give me the old pair of trousers That seem to improve with the dirt, And let me get back to the comfort That's born of a blue flannel shirt.
Grandpa My grandpa is the finest man Excep' my pa. My grandpa can Make kites an' carts an' lots of things You pull along the ground with strings, And he knows all the names of birds, And how they call 'thout using words, And where they live and what they eat, And how they build their nests so neat. He's lots of fun! Sometimes all day He comes to visit me and play. ”

“ Now, mammy, don’t please say one word to dad,
For this was the best day we ever have had;
We wish you’d have grandpa come every day,
Never to leave us, but come here to stay.
We love you and daddy as much as we can,
But we also love grandpa, he’s such a fine man.
{23} Christmas in Norway.
Good Shepherd, I pray Thee, let Santa come
And bring us the things we have asked for so long;
There’s Gerald needs shoes, his old ones are too bad,
And an overcoat, a warm one, for the very best dad;
There’s Peer, need’s a cap, to keep out the cold,
We have looked at one longingly—but it was sold. ”

“ But I haven’t said a word about Grandpa. I am so glad to know that he is better and even gets into the kitchen; that is splendid, and besides he has had company as well as you all. Ah, ha, I found it out, if none of you told me! Ben Porter came at last!! Please give my congratulations to Grandpa, and you too Julia, for I am writing to you just as much as to Dave, only I don’t know as I said so before. ”

“ And close tired eyes on the dear Father's breast."
Still softly and sweetly from out the next room
Still floating and lingering 'mid shadow and gloom—
The sound of the soft murmured "lullaby—O!"
Is heard, while the mother sings gently and low—
[Illustration: Music Sheet detail:
"Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber,
Holy angels guard thy bed."]
And Grandpa and Grandma draw nearer together,
And on Grandpa's shoulder lies Grandma's grey head,
As closely he holds to his fond aged heart
The wife from whose love he holds no thought apart. ”

“ I’ve been asking grandpa all about it, and he told me such a splendid story.
“Grandpa” (she has approached the old gentleman in a pause of the debate he is having with the Lieutenant and some others, on the subject of French politics) , “Grandpa, won’t you tell us that story you told me one evening, about your great-uncle, who was a duke, or marquis, or something?”
Just now a sunbeam, resting on the little head, turns the long raven “mane” to purple. Purple hair! Strange Aunt Sophia never noticed it before, all these years! She leans forward with a sudden look of interest. ”

“ Gray, I have come to tell you that you will never again be troubled by grandpa or Rosa. Grandpa is in my home, and the physician says that he can live but a few hours longer. He has had a raging fever, but that has left now; he is entirely rational and wishes to see you before the Master calls. ”

“ And none was more rosy and sweeter than you.
{21} Little Mischiefs.
Grandpa’s darlings see him coming
Up the hill, they come a running,
Till at length they stop to rest;
Then he thinks how he is blest. ”

“ Down by the basket the old grandparents fell upon their knees—one holding the light—the other crying like a child.
"See, grandpa, see; a beef-steak—a great, thick beef-steak, and pickles, and bread, and—and—do look, grandmother, this paper—what do you think is in it? oh! ha! I thought you would brighten up! tea, green tea, and sugar, and—why grandfather, is that you crying so? Dear, dear, how can you? Don't you see how happy I am? Why, as true as I live, if I ain't crying myself all the time! Now, ain't it strange; every one of us crying, and all for what? ”

“ In time, those possessions: properties and artifacts, along with their histories, will move along to your children and grandchildren. In every culture, 'grandpa and grandma stories', along with 'mom and dad stories,' are part of that inheritance.
When youngsters know that Grandpa or Grandma wrote a story expressly for them, that more than qualifies the story for the special collection of treasures to be shared with close friends, presented at school as a show-and-tell, and eventually absorbed into the treasured memorabilia of childhood. ”

“ Oh, Father's is fine and big and handsome, and all that, of course; but not like this. His is just a nice place to eat and sleep in, and go to when it rains. But this—this you just want to live in all the time. Here there are curtains 'way up and sunshine, and flowers in pots, and magazines, and cozy nooks with cushions everywhere; and books that you've just been reading laid down. (All Father's books are in bookcases, always, except while one's in your hands being read.)
Grandpa's other daughter, Mother's sister, Hattie, lives here and keeps house for Grandpa. ”

“ Sometimes folks seem to forgit you is your grandpa's grandchild. Yo' grandpa was the high-steppinist gentleman I ever seen in my life, but since you been goin' down among them mill folks and factory folks and takin' an intrus' in 'em, lookin' into how things is, some of them King Street people seem to think, scusin' of my sayin' it, that maybe it's yo' father's blood what's comin' out in you. ”

“ A shiny rich man from the avenue where such as him lives and what owns the ship grandpa used to master, an’ a lot more like it has so much to do with the ‘Harbor’ ’at he can get anybody in it or out of it just as he pleases. He’s been twice to see grandpa an’ made him all solemn an’ poor-feelin’, like he ain’t used to bein’. ”

“ Suddenly Grandpa turned around. His eyes seemed to throw sparks. "Idy! Play something loud. Bust that organ-box wide open. March music, mebbe. Anything to drown out that wind. And Paul and Maureen, quit gawpin'. Get up off'n the floor and sing! Loud and strong. Worryin' won't do us a lick o' good."
Grandma was relieved to have something to do. ”

“ You see grandpa lives among his books, and don't mind much what happens outside. Mr. Brooke, my tutor, don't stay here, you know, and I have no one to go round with me, so I just stop at home and get on as I can. ”

“ I suggested that his grandchildren have or will have families of their own and, in time, will also be grandparents. As elders, they will reflect on their lives and, with a perspective vastly different from their youth and middle years, recall that Grandpa, in his advanced years, had tried to reach out to them as a grandparent in deed as well as in name. ”

“ It only remains for me to say, my dear children, that after the marriage of your mother, the summers were our gala time, for Lizzie and the boys and grandma were all at home, and happy Grandpa would in his excess of joy forget the lonely winters, which he had endeavored by constant occupation at the store, the bank, and in the Church, to make the best of. ”

“ She walks quite nicely already, and also begins to understand much. If I ask her how much she loves grandpa, and show her your picture, she spreads out her little arms as wide as she can and closes her eyes. ”

“ The master Rebels often fight; many say that it is jealousy that makes them do so.—Pray, grandpa, what is jealousy?
[Pg 114]
Grandfather. A passion which I hope will never enter your breast. Your excellent parents love you all equally, and take care to make it appear that they do so. A good parent looks around with equal love on each child, if all be equally good, and each be kind to the rest. When a family is affectionate, how happy is every member of it! each rejoiceth at the happiness of the rest, and so multiplies his own satisfactions. Is any one distressed? ”

“ There’s the Boston rocker in which Grandpa sat of a winter evening and peeled apples for drying. I wonder where his little old “shoe-knife” is. “What makes your hands tremble so, Grandpa?” Sister would ask; but in spite of the tremor he peeled a heaping pile of an evening.
“Eunice, fetch me a bigger pan,” he would call to Grandma, busy in kitchen or buttery ”

“ Oh, please, grandpa, I couldn't get here to-day, it rained all morning, and when I ran away this evening, I slipped down and broke something, and oh, grandpa, I'm so tired and hurty, and [Pg 55] I'm so afraid you're hungry. ”

“ I could not help contrasting him with grandpapa, to the disadvantage of the latter. They looked about the same age, yet how different in their conduct, language, and attitude towards the gentler sex! One behaved, and thought, and acted as though he was forty-five; the other, who ought, heaven knows, to have been old-fashioned, and staid, and sensible, conducted himself like a fast, silly boy of twenty-one. For about this time grandfather began to grow young for his years, even on the New Scheme. ”

“ The young woman refused him and this nearly broke his heart, so he went back into the mountains all alone and there he busied himself by trapping and hunting until he had accumulated great riches of valuable furs and other things and was there for a number of years when he returned to his home. He never married and lived to be an old man and all the children called him grandpa. ”

“ Viola.
[85]
GRANDPA'S WATCH.
George is never so happy as when he is on grandpa's knee; and the first thing that grandpa has to do, when little George is seated there, is to pull out his watch.
[86]
"Watch, watch!" ”

“ Grandpa was carryin' slop to the pigs. It was awful hot; you couldn't hardly breathe—except when you got in front of the cellar door. Grandpa had no use for peddlers and never bought nothin' of 'em, and he kept answerin' the peddler short and carryin' slop, so as to keep away from hearin' him ask: "Any napkins, any handkerchiefs, any combs?" Grandpa kept sayin', "Nope, nope, nope." I was standing there and all at once I saw the peddler glue his eye on the sign "Billiards and Beer"—so I thought somethin' was goin' to happen, and went into the dinin' room and looked out of the window. ”